Being Miss Mills
by Ultraboy181
Summary: The Final Battle is over. Everyone has started to get on with their lives. But when the Savior vanishes it's up to her family to find her. But Emma is closer than they think. I don't own these characters and make no claim to any ownership of Once Upon a Time. Rated M for later chapters. Eventual Swanqueen.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

From the Depths of Hell I Stab at Thee

"Some honeymoon." Emma Swan thought to herself as she swept the darkness with her flashlight. The mines under Storybrooke, Maine seemed to go on forever. That was the reason that she was down there. As sheriff of the small town it was her job to keep the population safe. That meant making sure that the Black Fairy had not left any booby traps in town. It had been a week since Rumplestiltskin had killed her and Emma had faced off against Gideon in the final battle.

"Emma, there is an opening leading off to the right here that I'm going to check out." Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke, called out to her from behind. "It's not that big so it'll only take a few minutes." Emma heard her say a few yards behind her.

"Okay Regina." Emma told her without turning around."Just be careful and scream if you need me."

"I think I'll be fine _savior._ " Regina replied sarcastically.

"I can feel you rolling your eyes Regina." Emma smirked. She heard Regina chuckle before she went into the opening.

Emma continued going straight ahead down the cramped corridor. She was happy that Regina agreed to partner with her to check the mine. She saw Killian frown a bit when Emma announced the pairings of the searchers. Her new husband had wanted to go with her into the mines but Emma sent him with her son Henry to check up and down the coast for anything that might be a trap. She told him that she was feeling a little nauseous today and really didn't want to get sick on Captain Hook's brand new ship the SwanCaptain (she hated that name).

If she was honest with herself though, she was feeling a little suffocated by Killian since everything had settled down. Maybe it was just the fact that everything had settled down since the battle. For so long she and everyone else had been running on adrenaline tackling life and death situations that seemed to go on and on. Now there was no threat on the horizon. No villain actively plotting against them. Now everyone could get on with their lives.

Secretly she admitted to herself that she never thought she would survive and get the chance. She put on a brave front in front of her family. But she didn't have the same blind faith that her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, had that everything would be all right in the end. She hoped they would all make it out alive but Emma Swan considered herself a realist. The chance that she would survive the final battle in her mind was at best a fifty-fifty proposition. Also the fact that she kept seeing herself die in those visions didn't help her outlook on the future.

So she accepted Killian Jones' proposal and rushed into the wedding. He loved her so much and she loved him too. Maybe not as much as he did. Her brows knitted together under blonde strands of hair falling into her eyes. Deep down she knew that she definitely didn't love him as much as he did her. She guessed she just wasn't built that way. She didn't feel passionately about much normally. Her son Henry Mills being the exception. She just didn't get that passionate feeling of love most of the time. Not with Killian. But he made her feel safe and she cared for him. He was… comfortable, she admitted to herself. Safe. Passion got you into trouble. Passion got you hurt. Passion was scary. She felt passion with Neal and he left her. Then he died. Since then she didn't let herself feel that way about anyone else.

Well, that wasn't entirely true.

Emma pushed the thought out of her mind and shook her head as if that would bury it in her subconscious.

Something caught her eye up ahead. The shaft ended a few yards in front of her. But there was a door there. A very out of place looking door. It was a heavy looking wooden door.

It wasn't supposed to be here, she knew that for sure. The frame was ornately carved with images of knights and dragons, castles and horses. This was obviously from the Enchanted Forest. She looked behind it and saw that it stood at least six inches away from the wall. She was able to put her hand behind it. It was probably magical. Most likely left by the Black Fairy. Possibly a trap.

"Regina." Emma called over her shoulder. "I found something." She waited a moment to hear a response. Nothing. She turned and started to make her wake back to where she last saw the Mayor.

Just then she heard something that made her stop in her tracks and turn around. A muffled voice. She strained to hear it again.

"Mom!" it was Henry's voice!

"Henry!" Emma ran to the door and put her ear against it. "Henry are you in there?"

"Mom! Help!" his voice was coming from behind the door.

"Hang on Henry! I'm coming!" She reached for the handle and screamed over her shoulder. "Regina! Henry's in trouble!"

Emma threw the door open and saw a swirling black portal in front of her.

"What the Hell?" Emma muttered. Then the portal sucked her through the doorway and slammed shut. Then in an instant it disappeared.

Regina shone her flashlight on the ground in front of her following Emma's bootprints. "Emma?" She called out before her. "Did you call me? Emma?"

She came to the end of the corridor. That was where the tracks stopped.

"Emma?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 _The Disappearing Swan Trick_

At first she thought she was blinded. Slowly the blackness before her started to lighten and glow with a purplish hue. Now she noticed how quiet it was. No, not quiet. Absolute silence. Emma couldn't hear anything, not even herself breathing. She tried to scream, but she couldn't even feel her mouth opening. She couldn't feel her limbs. They just weren't there. Her head wouldn't turn.

"What the hell is going on?" she panicked in thought, "Am I dead? Is this what dying is like?! Well if it is, then it sucks!".

The purplish swirls began to shift and lighten even more. She began to see a shape forming, a rectangle. The door! That damned door that sucked her inside! It grew sharper into focus. It looked just like it did on the other side. Exactly. She tried to get a better look at it from a different angle. Why wouldn't her eyes move? They weren't going in the direction she wanted them too.

"What is going on!" she was growing frustrated.

Now her view was changing. It was like she was moving around to look at the door from the side and seeing how it stood out from the wall behind it.

"OK I'm moving now I guess." But she wasn't trying to move that way. She was trying to turn around and get out of there. Away from the door.

"Wait. Am I a zombie?" she puzzled. "Is this what it's like to be a zombie? I'm not hungry for brains. At least I don't think so." Come to think of it she didn't feel hungry. Which was odd for her because she always felt hungry. She wasn't thirsty either.

The view changed again. Now she was looking down at the ground in front of the door. She could see the way the dirt had been moved aside in a quarter circle when she opened it.

Now she was looking at her boot prints. Wait. There were now a second pair of prints. That wasn't there before. Now she was moving up the door away from the floor. She must have been kneeling down to examine the floor. Did zombies even kneel? She didn't remember ever seeing any kneeling zombies in the movies.

The door handle came into view. Slowly a gloved hand came up toward the handle. It must have been her hand. But she hadn't been wearing gloves. And these black gloves looked very expensive. Not her style at all. As the hand got nearer to the handle the door began to fade away. The hand pulled away quickly.

"Wait! Where is it going?! I need to get out of here!". But the door had now disappeared.

It seemed like she waited for a second then the view spun quickly and she could see that she was moving now. Moving toward the exit of the cavern. She tried to stop herself but began to realize that she was not calling the shots here at all. Slowly it began to dawn on her what was happening.

Now she found herself outside in the light. The gloved hand brought a smartphone up. She new that phone. She saw the screensaver photo as the phone was unlocked. A picture of Henry smiling. The hand was going through the contacts and landed on Mary Margaret. The phone now went past her sight and Emma assumed to where the ears would be.

"Oh my God." she thought. "I'm inside Regina!"

The phone was ringing. On the third ring Snow picked up.

"Regina?" Snow said not in a questioning tone, it was more of an acknowledgement. "What's up?"

"Snow!" Regina tried to hide the rising panic in her voice. "Get down to the mines right away!"

"Regina what's wrong?" Snow was getting nervous. Regina did not get rattled very easily.

"It's Emma! I can't find her! I think something terrible has happened!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _Where oh where has my little swan gone?_

Idiot.

That was the first thought that came to Regina when she saw that Emma had disappeared. But that thought was quickly crowded out of her head by absolute panic. She was gone. Emma had just vanished, most likely through that door. The door which was now gone as well. It was just like Swan to go charging in headfirst through that door, not even thinking of the consequences. Idiot.

Regina sat at the counter of Granny's diner staring into her coffee cup. The steam was rising from the black liquid. She hadn't ordered it, but now it was going to get cold. Granny had made the coffee for everyone but Regina just sat and gazed at it blankly after she had told the story about how Emma had vanished for what felt like the twentieth time.

Snow and David had arrived quickly speeding up to the mine entrance in David's rusty old pickup truck. Snow was getting out of the truck before David came to a complete stop. Her eyes were wide with fear for her daughter.

"Regina! What happened?" Snow grabbed Regina's arms. Ordinarily Regina would have bristled and pulled away from the contact but she knew that Snow was worried about her daughter. She moved Snow's hands from her arms and held them in her's. David ran over to Snow's side and put his arm around his wife's shoulder. God they were going to make her sick.

"We were searching together and we came to a small opening off the main corridor." Regina began to explain letting Snow's hands go. But now Regina was rubbing her own gloved hands together nervously. "I told Emma I was going to check it out and she kept going down the corridor."

Snow and David were stone still as they hung on Regina's every word, worry etched on their faces. "I didn't find anything and was on my way to rejoin her when I heard her say something."

"What did she say?" David asked. Did that really matter? Regina thought. He could be so trying. But she let it go because she understood his concern.

"I couldn't make it out. By the time I got there she was gone and there was a door at the end of the mine."

"A door? What kind of door?" It was Snow's turn to be dense now. Regina struggled to not roll her eyes.

"I can only assume it was a magical door left by the Black Fairy before I could open it the door disappeared."

"Where could she have gone?" David now. Regina was glad that Emma had not inherited the Charming's dull wit.

"I don't know. But we need to talk to Gold about this right away. He might have the answer as to what happened." Regina then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She fought to keep her voice from cracking. "Then we need to tell Henry that Emma is missing."

Now she sat waiting at the counter for Captain Guyliner to bring Henry to her. She hadn't wanted to tell him over the phone, she would have prefered to do it face to face. Henry was so insistent that he forced her to tell him what had happened. He was silent for so long that Regina had initially thought the call had dropped. When he finally did speak his voice was shakier.

"What if we can't find her?" His whisper broke her heart. She wished he was in front of her then so she could wrap her no longer small son.

"We will. I promise you Henry. We will." She tried to put as much confidence in her voice that she could. She would not disappoint her son. She would find his mother. She would bring Emma back.

The Charmings were holding court near the jukebox in the back of the diner with the dwarves. Leroy and his brothers had combed through the mine inch by inch trying to find any sign of Emma. Their search had turned up nothing. David had put the word out for everyone in town to keep their eye open for Emma or anything suspicious. All they were getting was dead ends. Regina had even found herself wishing that the wolf wasn't running around in Oz with her wife Dorothy. They could really use Ruby's sense of smell to see if they could find a scent trail. Although deep down Regina knew that wouldn't work. Emma hadn't been dragged off somewhere, she had disappeared. Disappeared behind that damn door.

The bell on the door rung and Regina looked up to see Gold and Belle enter. Belle was pushing little Gideon in a carriage while Gold seemed to be carrying a book under his arm.

"It's about time." Regina growled at Gold as she got up from her stool to walk toward the trio. "I called you over an hour ago."

Gold gave Regina a small smirk though the humor didn't reach his eyes. "Good to see you too Madam Mayor."

Belle hastily inserted herself into the conversation hoping to defuse the situation from escalating. She knew that Regina was on edge about Emma missing. The two shared a special bond that Belle appreciated and was astute enough to recognize that Regina was masking her fear with irritation.

"Sorry Regina, we stopped at the library on the way here to see if there was something referencing this door you saw."

"Well, what have you found out?" That was David now. Charming, Snow and the others had come over to join the conversation when Gold and Belle came into the diner.

"Not much I'm afraid." Gold took the book over to the counter and placed it down near where Regina had been sitting. "Obviously we know the door is some kind of portal. However what type of portal it is becomes the question. Most portals are used to travel between worlds, a few allow travel through time. Now in some rare cases there are portals that can be used for different purposes."

"Different purposes like what?" Snow was asking now. Regina refrained from rolling her eyes at Snow's question. As a former pupil of the Dark One, Regina knew that Gold would have revealed those purposes without a prompt. Rumplestiltskin loved to create drama when he was giving a lecture.

"These rare portals could take a person into the afterlife for example. Or the portal could transform the person into an inanimate object."

"Or shrink someone down to the size of an insect." Belle interjected.

Regina's breath hitched. What if that happened to Emma? Oh my God! What if she had stepped on Emma in the cave and killed her? Regina felt her stomach drop to the floor. She closed her eyes. No. Emma was not dead. She would know if she was. She would feel it. Emma was alive.

Rumple continued "Or the person stepping through the portal could be simply disintegrated."

Snow gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Ma could be dead?"

All eyes turned to the door to see Henry with a heartbreaking look on his face. Regina ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "No Henry." Regina calmly told him. "Emma is not dead. She's just missing. And we will find her. I will find her and bring her back to us."

Henry looked into his adopted mother's eyes and could see the certainty in them. He exhaled the breath he didn't realize he was holding and nodded solemnly. Regina turned to Gold with renewed focus in her eyes.

"So how do we know what type of portal she went through?" She questioned.

"Well dearie," Gold showed his teeth in what was not quite a smile. "That's where you come in."

"What do you mean?" Hook spoke up for the first time as he had been standing behind Henry in the doorway since they came in. A look of concern on his face for his missing bride.

Subconsciously Regina tightened her jaw at him.

"We need to make a dream catcher." Gold leveled his eyes to Regina.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much for the kind reviews and comments! Please keep them coming!**

 **Chapter 4**

 _Her Majesty_

To Emma it was a lot like watching a movie. Except the camera would move around when she was trying to look at something. If she had a stomach right now she was sure she would be queasy from it all. What frustrated her more than not being able to control what Regina was looking at was that she couldn't hear anything.

It was so eerie seeing that someone was talking and not being able to hear them. Emma imagined that this must be how it was to be deaf. But in her situation she couldn't hear and she couldn't communicate. Plus nobody knew she was even there. She was like a ghost. A deaf ghost. She just wanted to scream and let them know she was there.

She had seen through Regina's eyes as David and Mary Margaret arrived at the mine. The panic was plainly written on their faces and Emma's heart sank. They were talking to Regina and listening as obviously she was telling them something. Emma wished she could read lips. She was able to make out whenever they said her name though. She guessed that was probably through having seen them say her name before. And it was a pretty easy name to lip read, she thought.

Now it looked like they had decided on something because David and Snow were nodding their heads. The two of them got into their truck and drove off. Emma saw purple smoke begin to swirl upwards and realized that Regina was teleporting herself. As the smoke dissipated Emma saw she was inside Granny's. Well Regina was. And her too she supposed. Boy, this was confusing she thought.

Regina was now talking to Granny and the old woman's expression changed from neutral to worried. Granny was saying something but Emma could see there was no way she was going to be able to read Granny's lips. The woman talked in kind of sneer and her lips didn't move that much.

After finishing with Granny, Regina took her phone out. Emma watched as she scrolled through her contacts. She saw Henry's number and Regina pressed the name with her finger and the phone started dialing.

The phone disappeared from Emma's sight again. Emma had noticed something curious in Regina's contacts. Underneath Henry's name and number the next contact listed was Killian's number. But instead of the number being under Killian it had been under Hook and it had an angry emoticon. Odd. She thought that Regina was getting along with the pirate.

Sure there was friction between the two of them. Neither one of them was the kind to let go of old grudges. But Regina had been at least civil to Killian even before the wedding. Although Emma did notice that she seemed to avoid the couple whenever they were together, which hurt Emma a little. It wasn't entirely one sided though, Emma saw the scowls that Killian would throw Regina's way when he thought that Emma wasn't looking. Killian on many occasions complained about the amount of time she would spend with her friend. It felt like it was a tug of war between the two of them each fighting over who got to spend more time around Emma, It was beginning to exhaust her.

Others began to arrive to the diner and Emma could assume they were trying to figure out where she had gone and how to get her back. This made Emma feel hopeful that she would be in her own body soon. Her family and friends had proved on many occasions that together they can beat just about anything, so they would figure this out too.

That didn't make this any less irritating for Emma though. She wished that she could hear what was going on as well as see. It was unnerving to have all this silence when she could see the frantic expressions on everyone's faces.

Presently Henry and Killian arrived. Emma's heart broke a little as she saw the worry on her son's face. She wanted to wrap him in her arms and hug him to make him feel better. Even though he was nearly a man now having just turned 17 years old. She could still see the same 10 year old kid who showed up at her door that night. The view got blurry for a second, like Emma was looking through water and then cleared quickly. Regina must have had tears in her eyes. That hurt Emma's heart too. Both of the most important people in her life were probably assuming the worst about her and she couldn't tell them she was ok. It looked like Regina was hugging Henry now and that soothed Emma's feelings a little.

With a jolt Emma remembered Killian. Had she just thought of Regina and Henry as the two most important people in her life? How could she forget about her husband? Weird.

It looked like the discussion was winding down as Emma assumed they had formulated a plan of attack. Regina gave one more hug to Henry and Emma saw a quick glance to Killian before purple smoke engulfed her again.

Now she was in Regina's vault. Regina seemed to be gathering materials from her boxes and chests. Emma wished she knew what Regina was going to make with them. Now it seemed that Regina had collected all the material and was ready to do whatever with them. Purple smoke started to form as Emma assumed that Regina was about to teleport again, but then the smoke disappeared abruptly and she was still in the vault. Her view changed again as Regina turned toward a wall with a mirror on it. Emma saw a glimpse of Regina's face and it looked anguished. Watery eyes were starting to redden a little.

Don't cry Regina, Emma thought. I'm still alive. At least I think I am anyway.

Regina pushed on the wall and it opened like a door to a pretty fancy looking room. It was very much in Regina's style. Elegant and classy. Marble floors and even a chandelier. Furniture that Emma would be afraid to sit on for fear that she would get it dirty. Emma really admired Regina's taste and the way she looked at home in surroundings like this. Regina was truly regal in Emma's eyes. She was a natural queen.

Regina walked to a chaise lounge and sat down placing the materials she was holding in her hands next to her. She got her phone out and it looked like she was opening up her photo app. Yep, sure enough she swiped to a picture of Henry and Emma together looking into the camera with Emma's arms around her son from behind. They both had huge smiles on their faces and it looked like Emma had just grabbed him by surprise. They were in the park and both looking into the camera. Emma remembered that day when the picture was taken. All three of them had gone out for a nice picnic as a family and afterwards she and Henry had thrown the baseball around with Regina watching them. Every now and then Regina would tell them that they were throwing the ball too hard and one of them was going to get hurt. Emma would be smiling at that right now if she still had a mouth, she thought.

Then Regina swiped to a new picture and it was the same one but this time it was cropped and was a close up of Emma's face only. Regina's finger seemed to glide over the jawline of Emma's image. The view got all fuzzy again. Then suddenly Emma heard Regina's voice clear as day. Her voice cracked as she sobbed, "Oh Emma."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **A/N Thanks for the comments! This chapter might seem slow but I really want to explore Regina here. She is the most complex character on the show IMHO. The action will pick up next chapter. Promise!**

 _If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right._

Regina's heart ached. Emma was missing. Her Emma was missing. She was her Emma because she believed that Miss Swan was her true love. She knew it deep in her soul and to the very core of her being. She guessed that she started to fall in love with when she first saw the beautiful blonde standing on her doorstep.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" that was all Regina could manage to get out. Although her face remained passive, inside she felt a like a volcano had erupted. Her throat had clenched and her heart skipped a beat because of Emma's beauty.

But then Regina had pushed down those emotions. Buried them deep within her. This woman was trying to take her son from her. She wanted Henry. The only thing that mattered to Regina. The only person she loved in any world or realm. Henry was her anchor back then. He was all that had kept her sane. His love and existence gave her life purpose, a reason to go on living.

Those years before she adopted Henry had slowly begun to drive Regina into a dark depression. Storybrooke was supposed to be her happy ending. Instead it had become her Hell. She had meant for all her enemies to suffer in this world. Separated from their loved ones. Robbed of their memories. Trapped in a dull and meaningless existence forever.

But the only one who was trapped was Regina. The dark curse had ruined her instead. The townspeople had a kind of freedom that she didn't, they were free of their past lives. With no memories from before they weren't burdened with regret like she was. They began to make friends with each other. Develop relationships. But not her. She was isolated. Alone.

Gods, she was so alone! The only one who had any idea what was going on. Not being able to rub anyone's nose in her revenge was infuriating. What was the point of all of this? What was this dark curse for? It gave her nothing at all. Nothing and no one. She had always been alone. Back in the Enchanted Forest there was no one but her father that could stand to be around her. And she knew that even he was a little afraid of her. But in Storybrooke she didn't even have her identity. She wasn't Regina. She was Miss Mills, the mayor. She couldn't be herself.

Not that she really even knew who she was herself. Growing up as Cora's daughter was a nightmare that still haunted her on dark nights when she allowed herself to think of that time in her life. Her mother abused her verbally, physically, and emotionally. Regina wasn't a child to be loved and cared for to Cora. Regina was a tool to be used. A means to an end to increase Cora's power. And to become that tool Regina needed to be molded and forged in Cora's fire. She would put her down and demean her by calling her useless and stupid. She would withhold any love or care from her daughter. Her father would be the one to nurse her when she got sick. He was the only one who would support her. But his fear of Cora would only allow him to show any love to Regina behind her mother's back. He was too much of a coward to stand up to her abuse.

Then there were the beatings. Whenever Regina disappointed her mother she was beaten. Whenever she stood up for herself or talked back she was beaten. Regina was able to hide most of the physical scars under clothing, save for the scar on her lip from one of her mother's rings. But the emotional scars that no one could see were far worse. They cut deeper than any wound on her body could.

Then came Daniel. A wonderful young man that had loved her as Regina in a way that no one had ever done. Their love had blossomed slowly, not with the fury and passion that her love for Emma had. It was the love of two young people slowly discovering their feelings. It was exhilarating and new for her. She felt hopeful for the future for the first time in her life.

A future that was crushed into dust between the fingers of her mother. Her first love was murdered in front of her by her very own mother. Another tragic event that shattered her soul into jagged pieces due to Cora's actions. After that Regina's life was plunged into darkness. Snow's betrayal. Her marriage to the King. The King's abusiveness in the bedroom. Rumpelstiltskin's tutelage and manipulation. All of these things contributed to the birth of The Evil Queen.

During her life as The Evil Queen she closed herself inside an armor of hurt and anger. She killed. She destroyed. She tortured. All the while trying to express to the whole world her fury about the way her life had turned out. No one could see that she was the victim, fate had chosen to visit all of this tragedy on her. She would be damned if she was going to be the only one to suffer. She would make everyone hurt the way she hurt. They would all pay. She would make the world pay.

Regina had no idea that all that would lead her to a headstrong, arrogant, and bewitching blonde. Emma Swan. The Savior.

Her savior.

Although she was the only person who knew this. Emma had saved her. She had forced her way into Regina's life and surprisingly into her heart. Emma made Regina feel something she thought she would never feel again in her life. Passion.

Now she was missing. She might be somewhere that Regina couldn't get to. Gone forever. The thought that Regina would never see her again was breaking her heart.

"Oh Emma."

She could hear Regina's sobs. Emma would have been happy that she could finally hear something if the sound was anything but Regina crying. Emma wished she could comfort her. Hug her and let her know she was alright.

Presently Regina stood and the purple smoke enveloped her and left behind only the tears on the marble floor.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 _Revenge is the new black_

Blue had been nursing a headache all day and Violet complaining about the recent power outages in the convent wasn't helping it get better. The fairies had been losing power intermittently ever since the final battle with Fiona. Blue had complained to the Mayor and been brushed off. The two ladies still had a very cool attitude towards each other. After being on opposite sides for so many years it was hard for either of them to completely let go of a certain amount of animosity. Blue and Regina could work together when they had to but any interaction between the two was always strained.

"I spoke to mayor Mills about the problem Violet." Blue spoke tiredly. She hadn't been sleeping well lately and it was beginning to show. Dark circles ringed her eyes and her normal perfect posture showed an uncharacteristic slouch as she walked. She wondered if maybe she was coming down with a cold.

"What did the mayor say she would do about it?" Violet was walking beside the mother superior. They were heading to Blue's office. Violet had seen Blue walking down the hall and had intercepted her. She knew that she had to talk to Blue before she went into her office. Lately Blue had been spending the majority of her time locked away in her office. The other fairies had noticed and wondered among themselves about their leader's health.

"She informed me that the city government was very busy at the moment and that our problem would be placed on her to do list." Blue exhaled in frustration before adding "At the bottom."

They had reached her office door and Blue had her hand on the door nob. "Is there anything else Violet?"

"Yes. Are you okay? You have been withdrawn lately and you don't look well." Violet leaned in. "Some of the other fairies are worried about you."

Blue gave her a tired smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm fine. I just think I'm coming down with something. It's nothing to worry about. I just need a little rest."

Violet nodded taking the Blue Fairy at her word. Blue didn't get sick often but it wouldn't be unheard of. She was only human after all.

"Okay. Well please try to get some." Violet smiled and turned away.

Blue opened her door and entered her office. The sun was starting to go down outside and shadows stretched along the walls of her office. She tried the wall switch for the lights. Nothing. No power. She sighed and walked behind her desk and sat down. She would just have to do this the old way. She struck a match and lit the candle on her desk top. She had some paperwork to finish but with no light except the candle she knew she wouldn't be able to work long before her eyes began to strain in the dark. She didn't need to add to the headache any more than she had too.

Her hands went to her temples and her fingers tried to massage the pain away. It wasn't helping. In actuality her headache was getting worse. She closed her eyes shut and squeezed her eyelids together. After a moment she opened them and started as she could swear she saw a shadow move quickly from the corner of her eye. She swung her head to the corner where it came from.

Nothing.

Probably just this headache affecting her vision. This headache. It was almost pounding now. She could feel her heart beating behind her eyes. Maybe she should go see Dr. Whale. She had never had a headache like this before. The pressure was beginning to be unbearable. Her stomach was starting to turn.

Yes, she would call the doctor now. She lifted the receiver to her ear. No dialtone. She hung up and then picked it up again. Still nothing. First the power now the phones. She would have to send one of the fairies for Whale. She started to stand when she saw movement.

This time she was certain one of the shadows moved. Her eyes grew wide. She stood up from her chair instantly. But when she tried to move she was frozen still. She couldn't move at all. Her eyes widened in fear. The temperature of the room felt like it dropped 50 degrees. She saw her breathe as she exhaled.

A shadow in front of her began to form in front of her. It was taking the form of a wraithlike creature. A black and twisted form of a man, featureless except for the red eyes that seemed to burn like coals.

Blue felt cold sweat form on her skin. The pain in her head and was growing exponentially. Her heart began to beat like a jackhammer in her chest. The nausea in her stomach had become so bad it would have brought her to her knees if she wasn't immobilized. Her breath came out in rapid shallow gasps.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her.

"You don't know how long I have waited for this moment my old friend." a familiar voice spoke behind her.

Blue felt her blood run cold. "Impossible. You're dead!"

The familiar figure moved in front of her and Blue's darkest fears were confirmed as she looked upon her captor. A menacing sneer pulled at the lips of the person facing her.

"Wrong again my dear." Blue felt the hand enter her chest like a lightning bolt pulling her heart from her chest.

"You are." with that Blue saw the hand raise her heart to eye level and squeeze. The last thing the Blue Fairy ever saw was sand spilling between the fingers of her killer


	7. Chapter 7

**_Secrets_**

 **A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews and the favs and the follows! I really appreciate them! I'm going to do my best to keep you guys entertained. I've got some ideas for this story that are starting to form from what's happening in it. I'm going to be widening the scope of this and I think (hope) you guys will like it!**

Regina sat in the back room of Gold's store. She was surrounded by Rumplestiltskin, Belle, Snow, Henry, and Hook. David was still out leading the search parties for Emma. Regina had the finished dream catcher in her hands. Emma was just glad she could hear what Regina could hear now.

"Ready when you are dearie." Rumple prodded Regina.

She lifted the dream catcher and it began to glow from the center, it's light stretching to the edges of the wooden circle. Slowly the light began to coalesce into an image of the doorway.

"We need to pay attention those markings along the frames." Rumple explained to the gathering. After a while the image faded as Emma stepped through the door.

"That was my voice she heard." Henry spoke up after Regina brought the dream catcher to rest in her lap. "How?"

"Obviously there is an enchantment on the door that is meant to entice the person to open it." Rumple said rubbing his stubble.

"I don't recognize any of these words." Belle said looking up from a notebook. She had diligently transcribed everything she could see from the door frame.

"I believe those markings are ancient. Written in a long dead language." Rumple mused aloud.

"But you can translate it, right?" Snow pleaded more than questioned.

"Yes. I believe so." said Belle.

"But it will take some time." Rumplestiltskin wanted to check everyone's expectations.

"Time we don't have." Hook grumbled from the corner.

"I'll be working as fast as I can." Belle assured everyone. "I think I'll head to the library now. Will you watch Gideon Rumple?"

"Of course." Rumple assured her. She kissed him and squeezed Henry's shoulder in reassurance as she left.

Snow exhaled slowly. "I'll go help David with the search."

"I'll go with you love." Hook followed her out.

Regina finally stood from and straightened her clothes. She looked to Henry. "We should go home."

"Why don't we search with the others?" Henry complained.

"Because, it's been a long day and there are plenty of people out there searching right now. We should get some rest so that we can get to work early tomorrow."

Henry looked down at his feet. "Do you think she's…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Regina cupped his chin in her hands and lifted his head to look in his eyes. Eyes that reminded her so much of his mother.

"She's alive Henry."

"But how do you know?" Henry's voice broke slightly.

"I can feel it." Regina smiled and rubbed his arms in support. "Now go ahead and wait for me outside. I need to speak to Gold."

Henry nodded and left through the curtain. Regina turned to face Gold.

"You felt it too." She looked him in the eyes.

"Oh indeed I did dearie."

"How is that possible? It was a vision, we shouldn't be able to feel anything from it."

"What we are dealing with is the darkest of magic." Rumple spoke in a low tone. "And very powerful. The most powerful magic I have ever felt."

Regina felt a chill run through her body.

Regina and Henry entered the mansion on Mifflin street in silence. Regina locked the door behind them as Henry ran up the stairs towards his room. She started to chide him for running on the stairs but didn't. Instead she called out to him and he stopped halfway up.

"I know it will be hard, but please try and get some sleep tonight. I have a feeling it will be a trying day tomorrow."

Henry nodded. "Sure mom." She watched her young man close the door to his room. She couldn't believe how quickly he was growing up. Regina vowed to herself that Emma would be there to see him grow into a man.

She slowly made her way to her room. She began to feel how exhausted she was. The worry and stress of the day had taken it's toll and the adrenaline from her fear for Emma had ebbed away. She grabbed a nightgown from her bureau and went into her bathroom.

Is she getting ready for bed? Emma thought. She watched as Regina removed her designer jacket leaving her tight purple blouse with the button undone to allow a peek of her ample cleavage. Oh my God. Is she getting undressed? I'm going to see Regina naked?!

Emma was a little surprised at how the thought of seeing Regina naked had excited her like that. She tried to rationalize it away. Well she's a very attractive woman with an amazing body. It's only natural to be curious about what she looks like under her clothes. Right?

Regina looked deeply into the mirror at her reflection. She flicked her wrist and her makeup disappeared. Emma had never seen her without her makeup on. She was stunned by how the mayor still looked gorgeous even without her war paint on. Wow.

But Emma also saw the sadness in her eyes. Eyes the color of chocolate began to look wet. Regina closed them slowly and allowed the tears to fall slowly down her cheeks pooling onto the sink below.

Emma was moved by how much Regina was worried about her. Regina grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears away. She began to unbutton her blouse. Emma watched as delicate fingers pulled away the silk material revealing smooth tanned flesh. Emma saw the lace black bra that gently cupped ample breasts. The mayor undid her slacks that hugged her well shaped hips. She slid the pants down showing well toned legs. In the mirror Emma was able to see that unsurprisingly the panties matched the bra. What did surprise her was that they were in a thong cut so that it almost looked like a g-string. Damn Regina!

Then Regina brought her hands behind her back and undid the bra. Oh wow. Emma looked at the most spectacular pair of breasts she had ever seen. Regina's nipples were nearly the same shade of cocoa as her eyes but just a little lighter. The were perfectly round and her breasts seemed to defy gravity. If Emma had a jaw she knew it would be on the floor right now.

She is so beautiful.

Regina slipped into her shiny and sheer nightgown. Emma felt a little disappointed as Regina began to brush her teeth and hair. Too bad she doesn't sleep in the nude. She couldn't help the thought. She did feel a little guilty about being a sort of peeping Tom. Though she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She didn't have any control over Regina's eyes and it wasn't like Emma could close her's. Wait is she? Oh crap she's using the toilet. I just hope it's not number two.

Thankfully for Emma it wasn't as Regina washed her hands and headed to her bed. Regina laid back and closed her eyes. As sleep began to take her, Emma heard Regina whisper.

"I'll find you Emma. I will bring you home to me."


	8. Chapter 8

_**Sweet Dreams**_

"The fairies are dead!"

Archie burst into the sheriff's office with his eyes wide in panic and Pongo barking loudly. David quickly put his freshly poured cup of coffee on the desk spilling some of the contents.

"What? Archie slow down!" David tried to get the therapist to calm down.

"They're dead! They're all dead! All the fairies!" David could see that Archie was telling the truth. But unless he calmed him down he wouldn't get anything out of him.

"Easy Archie! Easy! What are you saying? What happened?"

Archibald Hopper took a deep breath before he continued. He knew that he was going to have to settle down. "Pongo and I were on our walk and we got the church and he started going crazy. He only acts like that when something is really wrong. We went in and that's when I saw them. All of them. They were all dead. Including Blue."

David stood slack jawed.

"They're gone David." Archie said catching his breath. "They're all gone."

"You are a worthless and useless child!" Cora seemed like she was 20 feet tall towering over Regina. Her face was contorted into a mask of absolute fury. "But I will remake you Regina. I will mold you into a queen. I will make you powerful."

"But I don't want power mother. I just want to be happy!" Regina was on her knees pleading with her mother. She was only nine years old but she knew that she had given the wrong response to her mother.

" How dare you speak to me that way!" Cora raised her hand and swiftly brought it down and connected with Regina's face. "I am your mother! I will tell you what you want!"

She felt the blood drip from her mouth and the teeth in her jaw came loose. She knew she shouldn't cry. But she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks.

"Mother I'm sorry!" Blood sprayed from her mouth as she spoke.

"It's time for your lesson my dear."

"No please! Don't!" Regina was pulled off her knees by magic and floating high in the air. Her throat was closing as she felt invisible hands squeezing her neck.

 _Oh my God! Did this really happen?!_ Emma looked on in horror. She was surprised that she could see into Regina's dream. She was glad when it started as she had been staring into darkness for what felt like hours. But now she wished for the darkness.

A bullwhip appeared in Cora's hand. "Let the lesson begin." Cora whispered.

The first lash sounded like a gunshot as Regina convulsed in pain. Then the strikes came faster and harder. Emma watched as Regina began to bleed from her wounds and screamed in agony. Her wails were heartbreaking to Emma. Then suddenly Regina was in a stable with a young man and her mother.

"Mother please don't do this! I love him!" Regina begged.

"Love is weakness." Cora said coldly. She plunged her heart into the young man's chest. _He must be Daniel._ Cora removed her hand and held Daniel's heart in her palm.

"Please! I'll do whatever you want! Don't kill him! Don't kill him!" Regina was near hysterics. Cora simply sneered and crushed the heart in her hands. Daniel's corpse fell to the ground. Regina rushed to his side and cradled his lifeless body in her arms. Regin looked up and Cora had been replaced by a young girl with black hair.

"You don't deserve love." the child said. "You're the Evil Queen."

"No! I'm not! He wasn't supposed to die!" Regina hugged Daniel's head to her chest. When she looked up again the little girl was now Mary Margaret.

 _Mom?_

"No one will ever love you Regina." Mary Margaret smiled in a way Emma had never seen before. The smile was cold. Uncaring. Evil. "You will die alone. Unwanted and unloved. It is your destiny."

"No…." Regina whispered through tears.

Emma could feel the sadness and despair. She felt the loss coming from Regina. It was almost unbearable.

Regina was in her garden. She was standing in front of her apple tree and it was burning. The flames were giving off cold instead of heat. She turned when she heard a man's voice.

"Those flames are waiting for you Regina." It was Robin Hood.

"Robin." Regina reached out to him but he didn't move. "Help me!"

"When you die you will spend eternity suffering for what you've done. How could you think I would ever love you after what you did to Marion?"

"I'm sorry Robin! I'm so sorry!"

"That's not good enough. You need to suffer." Robin turned into Henry.

"Henry! Please come with me! We need to get out of here!" Regina wanted to run to him. Emman could feel that Regina's legs were stuck. Something was pulling her down. She looked and saw the hands holding on to her legs coming out of the ground. The faces of all her victims, the people she had murdered as the Evil Queen.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, mother." Henry spat the word out as if it was distasteful."You have lied to me ever since I was young. I refuse to love a monster."

 _No Henry. Not you too. Don't hurt her. Please._

"Henry. Please come to me. You're the only good thing that has ever happened to me! I love you!" Henry turned his back and walked away. "Henry!"

Another person walked slowly into view. A woman. She was wearing a red leather jacket.

 _Is that me?_

"Villains don't get happy endings." Emma said.

"Emma! I need you!"

"No. I'm leaving you to your fate. I'm taking Henry with me and you will die alone." _I would never do that! She's Henry's mother as much as I am! She raised him from a baby! Regina that's not me!_

"Emma, don't leave me! Don't go!"

"Goodbye Regina." Emma started to fade away.

"Emma! Come back! I love you! I love you so much! Don't leave me! Emma!"

The cell phone rang loudly and Regina's eyes shot open. She was soaked in sweat. Emma could feel Regina's heart pounding and her hands shaking as she reached for the phone.

"Hello?" her voice sounded fragile and husky.

"Regina, get down to the church right away!"

"Snow?" Regina was waking up now.

"Hurry!" The line went dead as Snow hung up. Regina got out of bed and walked to her bathroom.

Emma was still in shock from what she saw in Regina's nightmare. It was horrible. It shook Emma to her core. _Is this what she sees at night? Does she really feel this way?_

The pain and anguish still lingered in Emma.

 _Does she…?_

 _Is Regina really in love with me?_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's a short chapter for you. Two updates in one day?! I felt really bad leaving you guys on such a dark chapter before so I felt I had to put this one out here early. Sorry about last chapter, that was a tough one to write. Anyway, thank you guys so much for the comments and everything! I'm going to do my best to keep you guys entertained!**

 _ **From the depths**_

He awoke suddenly. Someone was on his ship. Killian looked around and saw it was daylight. "What am I doing here?" he muttered. He had gone to sleep at Swan's home last night. How was he now waking up in his quarters inside the Jolly Roger? Something was wrong. He had a cold feeling in his stomach telling him that some sort of magic had brought him here.

The sound of footsteps above him alerted him to the fact that someone was definitely on his ship. He grabbed his cutlass and headed out. He emerged on deck and didn't see anyone at first. Then a figure stepped out from behind the main mast. A woman in a long hooded cloak.

"Killian." the voice came from underneath the cloak. The voice was muffled but his heart skipped a beat. He would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Mila?" he could barely get the name out.

The woman stepped forward and removed the hood. Long brown hair spilled onto cloaked shoulders. Those eyes that looked into his very soul. It was her.

"Yes Killian." she smiled that wonderful smile. "It's me."

He couldn't move. His brain had shut down completely. The only thing he was able to comprehend was that his heart was thundering in his chest.

"This is impossible. This can't be real." He must be dreaming. That had to be what was happening. But everything felt so real. He felt the sun on his skin. He could smell the sea air. The light sway of his ship on the water. This was real. This was no dream. "You're not real. You're a trick. Some type of spirit!"

"No Killian." There were tears beginning to fall down Mila's cheeks. "I'm real. I'm here."

Tears began to well in Hooks eyes as he stepped forward slowly. His right hand stretched in front of him. "But you're dead. You were lost in the Underworld!"

"I know, but I'm here. I don't know how, but I've come back to you!" She was smiling through the tears. That smile. The same smile that has haunted his memory for years.

He finally reached her and he brushed the cloak with his outstretched hand. It felt solid. She reached up and grabbed his hand, holding it in hers and pulling it to rest on her tear streaked cheek. He felt her warmth.

"Mila." He breathed. He looked deep into her eyes and then pulled her into a tender embrace. "Mila. It really is you. It's you." He kept whispering her name over and over as he buried his face into her hair. Gods, it still smelled the way he remembered. She pulled away a little and gazed at his face as they remained in each other's arms.

"I've missed you so much Killian."

"Not a day goes bye that I don't dream of having you in my arms again my love." He pulled her into his lips and kissed her. She returned the kiss with passion. Her tears began to mingle with his as their faces came together. Their arms grasped onto each other with all their might, both afraid that something would pull them apart again.

"Ahem."

Hook and Mila broke off the kiss as they were startled by the voice of the third party.

"Henry!" Hook said as he saw the young man standing on his gangplank. He hadn't even heard him walk up.

"Hook. Am I interrupting something?" Henry crossed his arms and at that moment he reminded Hook of his adopted mother the Queen.

"Henry, this is Mila!" Hook tried to explain but still not letting her go.

Henry's eyes went wide and his brows shot up. "Mila? _The_ Mila? Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"All I know is that I was in darkness and then suddenly I was standing here on Killian's ship."

"She's alive Henry! Alive!" Henry had never seen such a smile on Hook's face before. Henry's mind was trying to catch up on what was going on. How did this happen? And more importantly, he thought, what does this mean for Mom?

"Well this is…" Henry was searching for words to describe this situation. "I don't know what this is. But I came to find you. You left your cell phone in mom's bedroom."

Mila shot Killian a glance. "Mom? Is this your son?"

"What? No! It's not like that my love! It's….." only then did Killian think about Emma. Oh no, Swan! "It's complicated." He finally got out.

"Something terrible has happened." Henry was trying to bring them back to the matter at hand. "All the fairies have been murdered."

"What?" Killian was shocked.

"Mom and everyone went down to the church and found them all murdered. Everyone is going to meet at mom's office and try and figure out what is going on. We've tried calling you, but I see that you've been busy." Henry threw a sideways glance at Mila.

"Yes. I suppose I have."

"Well come on, I've got mom's car." Henry looked at Mila. "I guess you better come too."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 _ **Till death do us part**_

(Agrabah)

"An ogre? Here? How?" Jasmine stood in front of the ogre's corpse but she could still not believe her eyes. But here in her throne room the corpse of the slain ogre lay. "An ogre in the kingdom of Agrabah."

"Yes my wife, this is most perplexing." Aladdin stood beside his wife. "I wouldn't have believed it myself but after fighting the creature, I can assure you this was a real ogre." He rubbed his sore sword arm. "And he did not come in peace, that's for sure."

"Ogre's only exist in the Enchanted Forest. There has never been one here. Could someone have sent it?" Jasmine wondered.

"To travel between realms would require a portal. And to make one you need to be a powerful magic user. We know ogre's can't use magic." Aladdin rubbed his chin.

"Or a magic bean." Jasmine offered.

"And we know those don't exist anymore."

"If someone did send it through a portal, what would their purpose be?" Jasmine asked.

Aladdin leveled his eyes grimly to his wife. "It could be an act of war."

######

* * *

(Storybrooke)

As David and Mary Margaret watched Henry enter the diner they saw that Hook was getting out of Emma's car with a woman.

"Henry, who's that with Killian?" Mary Margaret wondered.

"Grandma, grandpa wait'll you hear this. You're not going to believe it." Henry shook his head as Hook entered with the woman. Killian wore what appeared to Mary Margaret a slightly confused look on his face. "Killian?" She prodded?

Killian cleared his throat. "This is Mila." Henry's grandparents were both slack jawed.

"Aren't you…? Isn't she…?" David was trying to find the right words. "Dead?"

"Aye, she was. But I can assure you that she is quite alive." Killian looked at her. Mary Margaret frowned a little at the _way_ her son-in-law looked at the woman. She glanced over to her husband and David nodded. He saw it too.

"As I told Killian, I don't know how I got here. All I remember is darkness and then I was standing aboard the Jolly Roger." Mila looked at Hook with loving eyes. Hook averted his gaze with color rushing to his cheeks.

Henry leaned closer to his grandmother. "What's going to happen when Gold sees her?".

Mary Margaret looked at him and nodded, it wasn't going to be a happy reunion. Just then the door opened and Regina walked in.

"Am I interrupting something?"

 _Who the Hell is that woman?_

"Mom." Henry walked closer to Regina and whispered as if he was telling her a secret. "This is Mila."

 _Mila?!_

"As in Rumpelstiltskin and Hook's Mila?" Regina said in shock. "But isn't she dead?"

 _How is she alive? She was lost in the underworld! And look at the way she's looking at Hook!_ Emma was starting to get jealous. _Hook is mine lady! Back off!_ She was about to say she won him fair and square but caught herself. This wasn't some competition. She had married him! Sure it wasn't love at first sight, in fact she hated him when they first met. She had left him locked up with a giant, he left her locked in a dungeon. They fought, literally. But he had finally wore her down after pursuing her relentlessly. That's how love worked right? The passion and chemistry didn't always have to be immediate. In fact in Emma's life she had never felt sparks right away with anyone. Not Hook, not Neal, no one really.

Well, that wasn't exactly true. She had felt sparks with one person from the moment they laid eyes on each other.

"Well," Regina smirked. "This little family reunion is going to get interesting."

 _What was that?_ Emma started to feel an emotion. An emotion that wasn't her's. _I must be feeling Regina's emotions. Is she feeling hopeful? It feels like hope. She's looking at Hook and Mila and feeling hopeful! What's this all about?_

"Mila?" a gravelly voice spoke from the front of the diner. Heads turned to see Rumplestiltskin with Belle and Gideon standing in absolute shock. Mila turned to face her former husband, her eyes narrowed. "Rumplestiltskin."

"I don't understand. How are you alive?" Rumple stepped forward and Belle gently put her free hand on his arm holding him in place. At the same time Hook stepped in front of Mila. "Easy crocodile." Hook growled. Rumple began to bristle.

Regina rolled her eyes and stepped in between them both. "Boys, boys we don't have time for this. She was dead now she's back. You have Belle and a baby." She pointed at Rumple then swung around to face Hook. "And you," _is this disappointment she's feeling right now?_ "You have Emma."

The words seemed to take some of the fight out of both men and they moved a step back. The tension still hung in the air and Rumple and Hook continued to exchange looks. This was not over between the two men.

"Now in case anyone has forgotten we have massacred fairies." Regina spoke to the group. "And a missing savior." _That was loss. I know that feeling._ "Belle have you found anything in your research about the door?"

Belle looked thankful for the distraction. "Well, like I thought the markings were very ancient but they were definitely of fairy origin."

"Fairy?" Regina questioned.

"Yes." Rumple joined the conversation. "The enchantment is meant to transport the person who walks through into another person."

"Another person? What does that mean?" Charming asked. Regina rolled her eyes. _And there's the irritation._

"It means that Emma's soul is probably residing inside someone in Storybrooke and I believe I have a theory on that as well." Rumple announced to them all. "A spell like this is not a curse in and of itself. It was intended to unite true love's into one body."

 _What?!_ "What?!" _That's what I said Regina!_ "So you mean to tell me that Emma is inside the one handed wonder over here?" _Ummmm…._

They all looked at Hook. "Me?"

Shit. _Shit. Wait. She didn't say that out loud. Regina thought that! I can hear her thoughts now?_

Well Swan, if I needed more proof that we could never be together I guess this is it. _These are Regina's thoughts! She's thinking this right now! She's thinking about me!_

You'll never know just how much I love you Emma.

 _I think I might have an idea now Regina._

 _######_

* * *

(Elsewhere)

"It seems they've used the door." a voice in the darkness.

"Yes."

"Not the way we had planned."

"It doesn't matter. We can adjust the plan accordingly."

"Are you sure? They've proven themselves quite worrisome in the past."

A chuckle in the darkness for a reply. "Yes they have. But this time we are working together."

"They don't stand a chance."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 _ **Davey Jones' Locker**_

(Storybrook)

 _Well, obviously there's another answer here. Belle misread the engravings. The curse on the door didn't work. I don't know! But I'm not Regina's true love! Robin was! And I'm with Hook! She may love me but I'm not in love with her. Right? I mean…. I… this is so confusing!_

"That solves one of our problems." Charming spoke. "Now we just have to get Emma out of Hook." Again Emma felt the disappointment and frustration from Regina. **Of course Emma's inside the pirate.** _These are Regina's thoughts again, I can hear her so clearly._ **Of course they're true loves. But fool that I am I believed for just a moment that I might be her's.** _I can feel her heart breaking. But she's got her mask on. No one can see past her walls. No one here can see that she's dying inside. But I can feel it._

"That doesn't help us with our other problem. Who killed the fairies, and why?" Snow said. Just then the door opened to Granny's diner. "I may not know who killed them all, but I think I know why."

"Tinkerbell!" Snow greeted the former fairy as she walked in.

"How are you still alive?" Regina asked her. "Well nice to see you too Regina!" Tinkerbell snapped at the Mayor. "You said you knew why the fairies were killed." Rumpelstiltskin wanted to know.

"Right. Since I'm not a fairy anymore I wasn't allowed to stay with them. I guess that's the only reason I'm still alive." Tinkerbell shuddered. "I went to the convent after I heard about what happened. I went into Blue's office and I searched around. I may not be a fairy anymore but I know what kind of stuff she's holding on to." Tink corrects herself, "Well, what she _was_ holding on to."

 **Spit it out already you bargain basement butterfly.** _Wow Regina. Harsh much? Although that is kind of funny._

"The key to the vault is missing." Tinkerbell's voice was lower.

"The what?" Charming responded. **Idiot.** _Hey, that's my dad!_

"The vault that contains some of the most powerful magical items and spells in all the realms." Rumplestiltskin answered. "It's the place that housed the Dark Curse." **Shit.** _I take it that that's not good._ "If whoever has this key is able to get that vault, then all the worlds not just this one could be in danger."

 _Yep. Not good._

(Later in Storybrook)

Regina looked through her ingredients. She found the vial she was looking for, tongue of the lich. She was in her vault alone and working on the potion to separate Emma from Hook. It was similar to the potion that Dr. Jekyll had created but this one was much easier to fabricate. Regina wasn't trying to split someone's personality or remove all the darkness from someone's soul. This was just a matter of getting two people who were magically linked together unlinked.

Emma felt the melancholy coming from Regina.

 **Well, this will bring you back my love. But it will bring you back to him, not me.**

 _Wow. This is really how she feels. These are some strong emotions coming through. I can't believe I never picked up on this before. I thought I was pretty intuitive._ But Emma knew that Regina had spent years building her walls around her heart. She knew that Regina would never let anyone know what she was feeling unless she wanted them to. It was her way of protecting herself from being hurt. Emma could understand that. She hadn't built walls around her like Regina had though. _No, no walls for me. I just run. You can't hit a moving target so you can't hurt what you can't hit._ That made the two of them the same. Emma and Regina had both been hurt badly. They both felt that they were destined to be alone. That no one would ever love them. And then Henry came into their lives. When he was a baby for Regina, and then when he was 11 with Emma. Henry had shown both of them that they could love and someone could return that love. The same same boy. The son they shared.

 _But that's just a coincidence right? It doesn't mean anything. Right?_ But Emma remembered what Mr. Gold always said. That there are no coincidences.

 **Maybe I missed my chance. If I had told you how much I loved you perhaps you might have grown to love me. I know that I couldn't hope that you would feel the same way that I have right away. You wouldn't even have to love me as much as I love you. Just to know that you cared about me, even if it was just a fraction the way I care for you, it would be enough for me.**

 _I care Regina._ It just kind of bubbled up in Emma. The feeling. And it caught her completely by surprise. _I mean, of course I care about her. I'm her friend. She's my son's mother. I would do anything for her and she would do anything for me. But I'm married to Hook and Robin was her true love. So that's that._

 **But I was a fool to believe that we could be together. So I will just bury my love for her deep in my heart like I have for nearly seven years now.** _Seven years! Shit Regina! Why didn't you ever say anything? I mean the first few years I thought you hated and me and wanted me dead, but you were in love with me the whole time? Wow._

She finished the last step of the potion. The liquid began to shimmer and turned blue. She put everything away and grabbed the vial placing it in her purse. She left her vault and sealed it with her protection spell. It was already dark and the full moon shone bright in the clear night sky.

 **Well I should get this to Captain Guyliner now. At least I'll get to see my love again.** _Well this should be interesting when he drinks it and it doesn't work._

(the woods near Storybrook)

The wolf smelled the air. This wasn't right. This was home. But not home. Not where the wolf came from. The wolf was just there. Just there in new home. Now she was in old home. The wolf smelled the ground. She smelled old friends. The wolf was confused. She turned around and ran back to where she came from. New home. She could smell the difference in the air. She spun again and ran back. Old home. The wolf knew something was wrong. It howled at the full moon as if it would give her the answers.

(Henry's room in Storybrook)

Henry looked at the quill. It sat on his desk next to the book that was open to a blank page. He could end this right now. He could just pick up the quill and write his mother home. He could maybe bring Blue and the rest of the fairies back. He could defeat whoever it was that had started all of this.

He could do anything.

He reached for the quill but stopped inches above it, not touching it. He couldn't. He shouldn't. It would be wrong. He wasn't supposed to use his author powers like that. His hand began to tremble. He wanted to do it. He wanted to keep his family safe. He wanted to bring his mother back.

He clenched his hand into a fist. He brought it slowly back down to his side. "No." he said softly. He wasn't like Isaac. He wouldn't be tempted. Besides, his family would make it through this. They always did. Good always wins.

Then his room went dark. And it wasn't like the power went out. It was just black. Like he was blind. He heard footsteps. "Hello?" He said, his voice a little shaky. "I can't see anything! Mom is that you?"

A cold voice came from the darkness. "No, not your mother." It was a man's voice and Henry could hear the smile in the tone. The voice was cold. Evil. "Well, little author we can't have you interfering in our plans. So we will just have to end your writing career."

Henry doubled over in pain. He felt like his hands were in a vise. The pressure was building on them and it hurt like hell. His bones began to crack. He could feel his fingers snapping like twigs. He screamed in pain and then collapsed unconscious on the floor. As he slipped away he could hear the laughter of two voices. The man's voice, but now joined with a woman's.

(Storybrook, the docks)

Regina parked her black Mercedes near The Jolly Roger and got out. **Well, better get this over with.** She started up the gangplank. She didn't pay attention to the brown cloak lying on the steps leading down to the captain's quarters, but Emma did. _That looks like the one Mila was wearing._

Regina was about to knock on the door when she heard sounds. **What the Hell?** _Oh Hell no! That better not be what it sounds like!_ Both Regina and Emma were furious. Regina used her magic and threw open the door. Hook scrambled off of Mila as she covered herself quickly with the sheets from the messy bed.

"God damn you Hook! How could you do this to Emma?! She's your wife you fucking bastard!" Regina was screaming. _Oh my God. Oh my God. Killian._

"It's not what it looks like!" Killian started to explain, holding his hand over his still erect member.

"Oh no? Well then tell me what it is! Because it looks like you were fucking this resurrected bitch while your wife is still missing! You remember her? Your true love?She's still inside you, you asshole! She's probably watching you hump like the dirty sea dog you are!" _Oh my God._ Regina wanted to fireball the both of them. **I could kill him! I could kill them both! How could he do this to her! I would never cheat on her! I knew he was never good enough for her! I'm so sorry Emma. I hope you didn't see this.**

But she had. She was in shock. She trusted him. She married him. And like everyone else in her life he had let her down. But right now her sadness was being eclipsed by the rage she felt coming from Regina. **I'll burn this whole ship to cinders! It will be his watery grave!** Her hand began to form a fireball.

"Wait! Regina! You said it yourself! She's inside me! You kill me, you kill her too!" Hook was pleading to her.

 _Don't do it Regina. You've changed. You're not the Evil Queen anymore. Don't throw away everything for him. He's not worth it._

 **He's not worth it.** "You're not worth it." She reached into her purse and flung the vial on the bed. "There's the potion. Drink it so she can get out and kick your ass." She turned on her heel to leave. "I hope you choke on it." She threw over her shoulder as she walked out.

Emma felt the heartbreak from Regina that mirrored her own as a tear rolled down Regina's cheek.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for the reviews! It makes me so glad that you guys like the story! I hope you don't mind the pacing, I have a lot that I am planning on doing so I hope you stick with me. This chapter contains sexy time so if you don't like that kind of thing just come on back for the next chapter. Thanks again!**

Chapter 12

 _ **Only in my dreams**_

Regina didn't remember driving home but she found herself parked in her driveway. She had driven home in a haze on auto pilot. She couldn't think straight. She knows that she should have stayed to make Hook drink the potion and get Emma out of there before they both killed him. But she couldn't stay on that ship another second. She had to get away from them or she didn't know what she would do. **How could that piece of shit cheat on Emma?** _I know right?_

Emma was shocked too. But it bothered her that she didn't feel sad. She was angry at Hook's betrayal, she knew that her short lived marriage was over. She would not take him back over this. But there wasn't any sadness. She could feel sadness coming from Regina for her, but Emma felt none from herself. _Maybe I'm just in shock and the sadness will come later._ She doubted it though.

Regina got out of her car and let herself into her house. After locking the door and depositing her purse and coat she headed upstairs to her bedroom. She suddenly felt exhausted. She passed by Henry's room, no light coming from under the door. He was probably already asleep. It was late and it had been a very long day and everyone was running on adrenaline. She went to her room and shut her door.

Usually Regina got ready for bed without magic. She liked the ritual of undressing, removing her makeup, brushing her hair and teeth. But tonight she was just too tired so she flicked her wrist and did it all instantly with her magic. _I need to remember to get her to teach me that trick._

She plopped herself on her huge bed in a very undignified way. She just wanted to sleep. Her hand strayed down, most nights she ended her day thinking of Emma and pleasuring herself. Tonight, however, her hand stopped short and she exhaled in frustration. She couldn't do it after seeing what she saw on the ship and the thought that Emma might have had to witness it. She shuddered in disgust. Her eyelids drooped slowly and soon sleep overtook her.

"You are a worthless and useless child!" _Shit. Regina's having this nightmare again? Can't she ever catch a break?_ "But I will remake you Regina. I will remold you into a queen. I will make you powerful." Cora was saying. Emma couldn't take watching this scene repeat. Anger was building up in her like a volcano and then finally erupted.

" _Stop it!"_ she screamed. Then Cora and Regina turned toward her. " _You will not touch her!"_ Emma ran and put herself in between the two.

"Emma?" Regina called from behind her stunned that the blonde was there. " _Get away from her you evil bitch!"_ With Emma's words Cora shattered like glass and broke into a million pieces and disappeared. Regina lept to her feet and grabbed Emma from behind in a tight embrace.

"Emma you came for me!" Emma turned to face Regina still in the hug that the mayor refused to break. Regina buried her head in Emma's chest and began to shake as she sobbed loudly. "You saved me. You're my savior. I love you." Emma was starting to realize what was going on. She was in Regina's dream. Maybe she could tell her what had happened and that she was trapped in her body. Mind. Whatever.

" _Regina."_ Emma lifted Regina's chin and looked into her eyes. _Those chocolate eyes are so gorgeous. I could get lost in them. Concentrate Emma. "The door, it put me inside you not Hook. I need you to make another potion and drink it and get me out of here. You. Whatever."_

"You're my savior." Regina wasn't listening. "I know you will always come for me. You will never leave me. I love you so much." She moved her hands behind Emma's neck and began to leave little kisses on her collarbone. _Whoa._

" _Regina. Listen to me. This is a dream, but I'm real. I'm really talking to you now."_ Emma was feeling the little kisses on her skin and they were getting her very wam. "At last we can be together my love. I've waited for this moment for so long."

Then they were in Regina's bedroom standing next to her bed. _Oh boy. This is escalating quickly and I don't think she's listening to me. "Regina I need you to listen to me. This isn't a dream. I need you to….. Wow."_ Regina's kisses traveled up Emma's neck and she put Emma's earlobe in her mouth and sucked softly. _Oh my God!_

Regina's hands were moving up and down Emma's back and her breasts pressed into her. _She feels so fucking good._ Emma was finding it hard to concentrate. "Regina…. The door…. Potion…." _Take it easy Swan! This is just a dream. Just a really, really hot dream. It's not real. It's not real._

 _But it feels so good!_ Regina began to kiss along Emma's jaw line. Emma's eyes rolled up to the back of her head. She knew she had to tell her. _But it can wait!_ Emma pulled Regina's lips to hers. They pressed together and Emma felt the softness and tenderness in the kiss. _Shit her lips are so soft!_ Emma's hands raced up Regina's back and felt the toned muscles of the slightly older woman. Regina's fingers moved up into Emma's long flaxen hair. The feeling was heating Emma up even more.

Their lips opened and Emma slid her tongue into Regina's willing mouth. Their tongues slowly danced together and Regina moaned into Emma's mouth. They pulled apart for air and their lips continued to touch as Regina whispered "Please make love to me Emma."

" _Yes. I need you Regina. I need you now."_ Emma couldn't think anymore. All she knew is that she wanted Regina more than anything right now. Emma moved quickly and started to pull off the dress Regina was wearing. _What is this thing? Some kind of Enchanted Forest thing? It's got too many strings and ties! Why didn't these folks invent zippers?_ Regina seemed to notice Emma's frustration and stepped back. She expertly began to remove her dress. Emma took the opportunity to remove her own clothes, albeit not as smoothly as Regina was. Emma hastily undid her jeans and began to lower them off her hips but then saw she still had her boots on. Now she was jumping up and down on one foot trying to balance and get a boot off. Regina was slowly sliding the dress off her tanned shoulders. Meanwhile Emma had kicked off one boot and was working on the other while her sock was hanging halfway off her bootless foot.

Emma saw a little smile start to form on Regina's lips as she observed the clumsy way she was getting undressed. "My Swan. Full of grace as usual." Emma smirked " _Even sassy in your dreams huh?"_ Regina's dress slipped off her hips and she stepped out of the discarded clothes. Standing there she looked like a work of art to Emma. From the smoky eyes that were shooting laser beams of lust to her beautiful breasts down to her perfectly maintained pubic region down to her toned legs. _She is perfect._

Regina moved to help Emma undress, she pulled off the red leather jacket and the white shirt underneath letting them both fall to the floor. She reached around Emma's chest and undid the clasp on her bra. _Come on man, even in her dreams my underwear doesn't match?_ The bra followed the other clothes to the floor. The women had not broken eye contact, brown eyes staring into pale blue. Emma gulped as Regina's eyes traveled lustfully down her chest. Regina's lips hovered over one of Emma's pale but erect nipples. A warm mouth placed a gentle kiss on it and then pulled it tenderly inside. _OH WOW!_ A tongue flicked the nipple and swirled a circle teasing it until Regina finally began to suck. Emma ran her fingers through Regina's thick brown hair pulling her into her chest. Regina moaned with Emma's nipple in her mouth and the sound of her sucking was driving Emma absolutely wild. Regina moved her hands using one to cup the breast that was in her mouth and the other began to play with Emma's free nipple. " _Oh Regina…."_ Emma moaned in a husky voice.

Regina moved her hand from the breast down to Emma's tight behind. She cupped the cheek and squeezed, eliciting another moan from the blonde. Emma felt heat emanating from her core like a fire. Regina slowly backed Emma to the bed and gently guided her down until she was lying on her back. She let go of the nipple from her mouth and traveled up to Emma's lips. They kissed with passion as each woman was feeling the pressure building between them.

"I need to taste you Miss Swan." Regina whispered as their eyes met. Those words set off fireworks inside of Emma and her hips bucked involuntarily. She wanted this woman's mouth on her right now. Regina moved down Emma's body trailing kisses down her stomach. She slowly made her way down until she was resting between Emma's thighs. She alternated kisses between each thigh slowly traveling up. Finally she stopped in between and faced her prize. Regina moved forward and inhaled deeply, she wanted to smell her Swan and savor the memory of her scent. She used her fingers to separate Emma's lips. They were practically dripping wet already. Regina leaned forward and licked up some of the liquid tasting her savior.

" _Oh shit Regina!"_ Emma felt like she was being shot out of a rocket. _She is amazing!_ Regina licked a few more times until she couldn't take it anymore and buried her face into the hot mound. Her tongue moved quickly in and out. Emma knew she wouldn't be able to hold out for long. She was already close and she bunched her hands into the sheets. Regina slid her fingers into Emma causing her hips to buck again. " _Fuck!"_ Regina furiously worked her fingers in and out as she sucked on Emma's clit. The mayor didn't think that she could hold on much longer either as she felt the heat and wetness growing between her legs. Both women were approaching their peak and the mayor concentrated her efforts on Emma's clit. Emma was there and she knew it the final straw was the thought that this was Regina Mills, the mayor, driving her to an incredible bone rattling orgasm. " _Holy shit! Regina! Fuck!"_ Her hips slammed up and down on the bed and Regina helped her ride it out while swallowing her warm reward for her hard work. Emma was trying to catch her breath as Regina slid up to lie down next to her. She kissed her, allowing Emma to taste herself on the former queen's tongue. _I don't give a fuck if this is a dream or not. I have to have her right now!_ Emma propped herself up on her elbow and looked into Regina's eyes. " _Get ready madam mayor. It's my turn."_ Emma smirked and Regina's lips parted as her eyelids fluttered in anticipation.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 _ **Mirror, mirror**_

(Storybrook, outskirts)

Dawn was breaking outside. Zelena felt the first shafts of the morning sun on her face before her eyes opened. She yawned and rolled over on her side and looked to see her daughter Robyn still sleeping in her crib. Zelena smiled, her little angel. What had she ever done to deserve a perfect little girl like this. The answer, she knew, was nothing. She had been wicked for so long, full of anger and jealousy. At her mother Cora, at her sister Regina, and at the hold world really. She had taken out her anger on anyone and everyone who had the misfortune to come across the Wicked Witch of the East. She had succeeded in getting her revenge on her sister by stealing the man she loved and tricking him into giving her a child.

Robyn, the child that had been born because of jealousy and anger had turned into a beacon of love that had changed Zelena. She rose from the bed and looked down on her still sleeping daughter. Robyn cooed in her sleep bringing a smile to her mother's face. This wonderful little baby had melted her mother's cold heart and filled it with love and compassion. Before it had felt like she was alone against the world but now Zelena had been given a family all thanks to little Robyn. Her sister had forgiven her and now Robyn's aunt Regina spoiled her niece and covered her in kisses every time she saw her. Robyn even had a cousin Henry who adored her. Even that Swan woman was someone that Zelena could count on to take care of her daughter. She even considered her a friend. Imagine that, the savior and the wicked witch, friends. Zelena chuckled softly and passed a kiss from her lips to her fingertips and then softly to her daughter's head.

She turned and headed into the kitchen and began to make tea, hoping she could have a cup before Robin got up. As she put the kettle on her ears perked up. Was that music? It sounded like a flute playing softly. Where was it coming from? The bedroom? Her blood ran cold. Something was wrong. She raced back to the crib nearly tripping over her robe in the process. She came to the crib and looked down, full of terror at what she would find.

Nothing.

Robyn was gone. The sound of the kettle whistling could not drown out the wail of her despair.

(Storybrook, the Charming farm)

The sound of her scream made David shoot up out of a deep sleep. It was Snow and David could tell that it was serious. He raced out of the bedroom clad only in his boxers and ran down the hall of their farmhouse. Snow was in Neil's room and standing over his crib.

"What's wrong?" But all it took was one look at the empty crib and David knew what was upsetting his wife. Neil was gone. Snow collapsed into David's arms sobbing uncontrollably and he tried to comfort her as the tears began to well in his eyes. In the distance he could hear a flute playing.

(Storybrook, Regina's mansion)

Regina woke with the sound of her alarm. 6 am. She turned it off and sat up in her bed. She stretched and allowed a smile to form on her face as she recalled the dream she had last night.

 **That was wonderful last night.** _You're telling me!_

 **What? That was odd.** Regina shook her head as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and let her toes brush the soft carpet.

 **If only I could really be with Emma like that. I know I could show her pleasure like**

 **that and more.** _Well damn, if it's anything like what you dreamed last night you can count me in!_

 **What was that?** _What was what?_ Regina shook her head and looked around. **Am I hearing things?** _Hm, I don't hear anything. I wonder if I lost connection to her ears again? But that can't be right because I heard the alarm go off._ **I didn't think that. What's going on?** _What is she talking about?_ **Am I going crazy? That sounds like Emma's voice!** _Oh shit! Regina, can you hear me?!_ **I must being going mad because it sounds like Emma's voice is in my head!** _Oh my God! You can hear me! Regina this is really me! I'm in your body!_

Regina stood up and ran to her bathroom. She turned on her sink and began to splash cold water on her face. _Regina! What are you doing?_ **This is a dream. This is a dream. I have to wake up. Wake up!** _Regina! Stop! It's not a dream! It's real! I went through the door and wound up in your body!_

Regina looked at her face in the mirror, reflected back at her was her own confused face. **This is just a dream.** _It's not! Please believe me! I've been trapped in your body ever since I went through that damn door! I've been slowly getting more and more, I don't know, input from you and now I can talk to you! You don't know how happy this makes me! I've been going crazy in here not being able to communicate with the outside world!_

Regina couldn't wrap her head around this. _Regina? I'm feeling a lot of emotions coming off you? Confusion, disbelief, and….. Fear? What are you afraid of?_ **That I'm losing my mind.**

Regina put her hands on the sink and her eyes began to fill with tears. _Wait. Regina, why are you crying? You don't need to cry! I can feel you getting sad Regina. You're not crazy. You're. Not. Crazy._

"Yes I am!" Regina screamed at her reflection. **I miss Emma so much that now I think I hear her in my head!** Regina buried her face in her hands and sobbed. _Oh Regina don't cry! I can't handle it when you cry! This is really happening! It's magic! Come on we've seen crazier stuff!_ **But it can't be. How could this happen?** _Come on Regina! You heard Belle and Gold, they said this was how the door worked! I'm really Emma!_ **But Gold said… that… you would go inside Hook.**

 **You're supposed to be in….. your true love.** _Yeah. That one surprised me too._

Regina slowly lifted her face from her hands and looked into the mirror. What she saw made her step back in surprise. She was looking at Emma instead of herself.

"What?! What's going on?!" _What? Regina, what are you seeing?_ "You! Emma! Can't you see that?!" Regina was pointing to the reflection in the mirror but the Emma she was looking at was not. " _See what? I just see you Regina, and you look very freaked out."_

"I am freaked out!" Regina was nearly screaming. "First I was hearing voices and now I'm seeing things!" _Whoa, this is just like Quantum Leap!_

"Quantum what?" _Ah ha! That's it! I have to be really me because you've never heard of Quantum Leap!_ "What is Quantum Leap?!" _It's a TV show starring Scott Bakula that you don't know about! So how could you be imagining me?_

"Maybe because I'm going crazy Emma!" _Ugh! You're not crazy Regina! Face it, I'm in your body!_ **I don't believe this.** _Oh yes you do. I can feel it. You're starting to._ **Then if you're inside me….**

 _Yeah. Uh, let's put a pin in that for later. Let's concentrate on getting me out of you first._ **The door sends the person inside their true….** _Pin Regina! Pin. In. It. Focus on a new potion to get me out._ **The potion. Then you saw last night with Hook and…** _Yeah. Yeah, I saw it._ **Oh, Emma I'm so sorry you saw that.** _I know. I can feel it. But don't be. I can't believe I married that fucker._

Emma saw Regina chuckle in the mirror. _I'm going to kick his ass when I get out there and stick that hook through his balls._ Regina laughed aloud covering her mouth. **I shouldn't be laughing, Emma. I'm sorry.** _Forget about it. It's kinda funny._

Emma felt nervousness and embarrassment from Regina suddenly. _Whoa, Regina. What's wrong? You're freaking out again._ **How long have you been able to hear my thoughts?** _Oh, well. For a while now._ Regina spun away from the mirror, hiding her reflection from Emma. _What? What's the matter? Regina? Talk to me? What's wrong?_

 **Then you know.**

 _Um. What do you mean?_

 **Don't play dumb Emma.**

 _I may have heard something…._

 **You know how I feel about you.** _Oh. That. Yeah. I know._ **Those were private thoughts!**

 **You had no right to invade my private thoughts!** _Hey! Don't blame me! I can't exactly cover my ears! I don't have any! Whatever you think, I hear. That's just how this works. I couldn't stop it if I tried. Oh no. You're going to be sick aren't you?_

Regina lifted the toilet seat quickly and vomited. _Oh man. That's nasty._ After she was done she slid down to sit beside the bowl. _You okay?_ **No. No I'm not okay.** She began to cry. Emma didn't know what to say. _Look Regina, I….._ **Don't. Just don't. I feel like a fool. You weren't supposed to know.** _You don't have to feel like a fool Regina._

Regina stood up and tried to regain her poise as she prepared her toothbrush. **Well I do. You heard me prattle on like a love sick teenager with a crush.** _A crush?_ **Yes. A silly little crush. That's all.** _Regina. You can't bullshit a bullshit artist. I can read your mind and feel your emotions for crying out loud! This is not a crush! You are in love with me._

She finished brushing her teeth and slammed her brush on the sink. "And what if I do?! What difference does it make?! You don't love me! So forget it!"

 _I never said that._

Regina opened her mouth to say something but she heard Henry cry out. _Henry!_ Regina was already out the door and heading towards his room. She opened the door. "Henry! What's wrong?"

"Mom!" Henry held his hands up showing his twisted fingers. "They broke my hands!"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! The story is about to kick in to high gear now! I hope you stick with me!**

Chapter 14

 _ **All in the family**_

"Henry! What's wrong?!" Regina flung the door open and burst into the bedroom.

Henry held his hands up showing his twisted fingers. "Mom! They broke my hands!" _Oh my God!_

Regina gasped and held his hands tenderly. The sight of her little prince's hands mangled brought tears to her eyes.

"Henry!" her voice cracked "Who did this to you?" Henry shook his head "I don't know mom. I couldn't see anything. I still can't." _What?_ "You're blind!" Regina held her hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, there were two of them. A man and a woman. They said they didn't want me to use my author powers to stop them. They did this to me and then they knocked me out." _Regina, can you heal him?_ "I'll try." Henry scrunched his brows in confusion. "Mom who are you talking to? Is someone else here?"

"In a way. Hold on Henry, I'm going to try to heal you." Regina's hands began to give off a glowing purple light. She passed the light over his hands. Once. Twice. A third time. She frowned in frustration. _It's not working?_ "No, it's not." she breathed. "It's not what? Who are you talking to?" Henry wanted to know. _Why didn't it work?_ "Whoever did this cursed him, and it's a powerful one too. I can't break it and no ordinary medicine will fix it." _Maybe Gold can heal him._ "Maybe."

"Maybe what?" Henry wanted some answers. "Who are you talking to?!"

Regina sighed. "Emma. Emma's inside me."

"What?" Henry was dumbstruck. "How did she get inside you?" Regina stood and helped Henry to his feet. "The door. When she travelled through she ended up inside me. Evidently she's been here the whole time, she's only been able to talk to me since this morning."

"That's crazy. But at least we know she's alive." He shook his head. "Can she hear me?" _Yes._ "She says yes."

"Don't worry mom. We'll get you out of there." _I know._ "She says she knows."

Henry looked like he was thinking. "Wait. We thought she was in Hook. The door was supposed to join someone with their true love. This means…." _Oh boy._

Regina held her hand up. "We don't know what this means." _I think we do._ "Gold and Belle could have gotten the translations wrong." _Really Regina? They got it wrong? Riiiiight._ "They could have made a mistake! We don't know!" Regina was yelling. "You're talking to her right now aren't you." Henry grinned. "She doesn't believe you either."

"Look, we don't have time for this. Come on I'm taking you to Gold's shop." She began to lead Henry out. "He stopped her. "Wait, what about the potion? Can't you use it to get mom out?"

"I gave it to Hook last night."

"And nothing happened. It was wasted on him." Henry shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't stay to find out." Henry stopped again. "You didn't wait? Why not?" _Well this is going to suck._ "He was doing something." _More like doing someone._ "I didn't want to be there any longer than I had to. I gave him the potion and then left." She continued leading him downstairs to the front door. "That doesn't make any sense. You didn't want to see if the potion worked or not?" _You have to tell him. You know he's not going to stop with the questions until you do._

"Fine. Hook was with that Mila woman." Henry's jaw dropped. "Wait, you mean..?"

"Yes Henry! Don't make me spell it out for you! Now let's go!" Regina grabbed her car keys and opened the front door. _Regina._ "What?!" _Clothes._ She looked down and saw she was still in her nightgown. **Damn it!** She flicked her wrist and her clothes transformed into a stylish pantsuit. **Better?!** _I think I preferred the nightgown._ Regina blushed, thankful no one could see. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything mom"

"I was talking to your mother." Regina could hear Emma laughing as she and Henry left the mansion.

(Storybrook, Gold's shop)

As Regina gets out of the car and goes around to help Henry out Emma spots her parent's truck. _What are my parents doing here?_ **Why is Zelena's car here too?** "I've got you Henry." Regina takes Henry's arm and guides him into the shop. As they enter they find absolute chaos as everyone appears frightened and screaming at once.

"Hold on!" Regina yells in her most royal voice. "What is going on?" Everyone stops and turns to Regina. _Nice. That's better than a police whistle._ Zelena runs over to Regina in tears. "Robyn is gone! Someone took her!"

"Someone took Neil too!" Snow's eyes are puffy and red from crying. _Neal is gone?_

"Both babies are gone?!" Regina couldn't believe it.

"It appears that each child was taken the same way by the same person. Both kidnappings were accompanied by the sound of flute playing." Gold informed her. "A flute?" Regina couldn't see how this could get any stranger.

Belle noticed Henry standing by the door. "Henry? What happened to you?" Everyone turned and seemed to notice him for the first time. Regina answered for him. "He was attacked."

Charming spoke up. "Attaked? By who?"

"There were two of them. A man and a woman. They blinded me and then the cursed my hands so I couldn't use my author powers and then they knocked me out."

"I tried healing him but the curse is too powerful. I was hoping you could do it." Regina indicated to Rumplestiltskin. "We can do that after we find my daughter!" Zelena yelled. Regina touched her sister's arm to calm her. "We will find her Zelana. Don't worry."

Gold limped over to look at Henry. "This curse is beyond me. I'm not powerful enough to break it." Regina was shocked. "A curse that the Dark One himself can't break? Who could have done this?" Gold fell silent in deep thought. _He knows something._ "What aren't you telling me?" Regina narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you think that they could be the one's who took our children?" Snow said through sobs. Rumple merely nodded. Just then Killian entered the shop with Mila in tow. "I noticed everyone's automobile out front." He read the looks on their faces. "What's happened?"

"Someone has kidnapped our children pirate!" Zelena spat. "The children?" Mila spoke up. Regina glared at her. _Oh look at Mother of the Year over here! Suddenly she cares about children after she abandoned her son to set sail on the Love Boat._ Regina couldn't stop a little chuckle from escaping. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Something funny sis?" Zelena growled. "I'm sorry." Regina apologized. "Just something Emma said."

"What?" Snow said. "What do you mean?" Regina took a deep breath. "Emma is inside me."

"Excuse me?" Charming's eyebrows shot up. "Yes." Regina told him. "Emma went through the door and wound up inside me, not Hook." She threw a dirty look his way and he averted his eyes.

"Emma is inside you?" Belle spoke up now. "Yes, I don't know how many more ways I can say it." Regina retorted. _Take it easy._ **Well all these pointless questions are getting on my nerves.** _Well you blowing your top isn't going to solve anything._ **Fine.** _Thank you._

"But she was supposed to go into her true love." Belle was still trying to understand.

"Well obviously you read it wrong!" Regina barked back. _What did we just talk about Regina?_

"I didn't read it wrong!" Belle took offense. "If Emma ended up in you and not her husband then that means…"

"Don't say it." Regina put a finger up warning her. "It means that the Queen is Swan's true love." Hook said what everyone was thinking. "Shut up pirate!" Regina yelled. _Methinks the lady doth protest too much._ "Really Sheriff? Shakspeare from you?!" Regina snapped to the room. They all looked at her like she was crazy. "What?" Regina looked at them all with a scowl. _They can't hear me._ "I know that Emma!" she blurted out. "Are you two arguing?" Henry asked. "Yes because your mother is an idiot!" _Hey!_

"Emma Swan is your true love?" Zelena was floored by the news. Just then the curtain parted and two figures entered. They were pushing a stroller with three children in it. Robyn, Neil, and one more.

"Gideon!" Belle ran toward him only to be stopped by Gold's hand on her arm. She hadn't noticed the couple entering. But everyone else saw.

"Yes, the Savior and the Evil Queen are true loves. Imagine our surprise." The Black Fairy said through a sinister grin.

"We had planned on Ms Swan going inside her husband. I had some wonderful games I was going to play with my favorite pirate." said Peter Pan.

Looking at all the surprised faces, Fiona smiled. "Well isn't this a happy family reunion."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: A short chapter because I have to get some things moving in the story. Thanks for the comments! All comments are appreciated! And don't worry. All will be revealed.**

Chapter 15

 ** _Family Feud_**

(Storybrook, Granny's diner)

Granny looked up as the door to the diner opened. Her eyes went wide when she saw the two women enter."Ruby!" She rushed over and wrapped the tall redhead in her arms. "Oof! Good to see you too Granny!" Ruby replied as she felt the older woman's tight embrace. Granny let her go and smiled widely. She hugged the other woman, a little less tightly this time.

"Hello Dorothy! So good to see you two! But you're supposed to be in Oz, how did you get here?"

"I have no idea. Last night I was in Oz, it was a full moon." Ruby started. "And you were on a hunt." Granny finished. "Yes. I was in the woods but suddenly I wasn't in Oz anymore. I was here, in Storybrook."

"But how?" Granny wanted to know. "Did you go through a portal?"

"No, that's the thing! There was no portal. No beanstalk. I was just here." she explained. "She came back this morning and we just walked right in. We tried to go back and we could. Over and over again." Dorothy continued.

"Just like crossing the street." Ruby said and her eyes carried the weight of her statement.

"The barrier betweens realms is gone." Granny whispered.

(Storybrook, Gold's shop)

"Hello my son. Did you miss your parents?" Fiona smiled.

"Get away from my son!" Belle screamed and ran toward Gideon. Suddenly a black aura froze them all in place. "Ah, ah, ah." Pan wagged his finger back and forth at them all. "We came to visit with family! We can't have everyone just interrupting us. Respect your elders everyone."

"How are you still alive!" Gold shouted. "I watched both of you die!" Fiona walked over to Gold slowly, rocking Gideon in her arms slowly. "Oh my son. I see that you are so happy to see us again. It warms a mother's heart."

"Your heart is as cold and as black as coal." Rumplestiltskin growled. "You didn't answer his question." Regina spoke up. "Why are the two of you not dead?"

"Well, that's the riddle isn't it?" Pan smiled. "But just telling you how wouldn't be any fun. We're going to play a game." Fiona rolled her eyes. "You and your bloody games." She said. "It doesn't matter if you figure out how we survived, it won't stop us from doing what we came here for."

"And what is exactly is that mother dear?" Rumple asked. "Why to be a family my dear. That is all I have ever wanted." She placed her hand on his cheek softly.

"Oh and unlimited power and revenge on you all." Pan smiled. "I don't understand." Charming said. "You never do." Fiona bit back.

 **Ha!** _Regina._

"Why take our children? What are you going to do to them?" Charming continued unfazed by the comment. "Oh we aren't going to harm these beautiful babies." Fiona said as she nuzzled Gideon. Pan snorted at her comment fighting back a laugh. "Do you think we're monsters?"

"Yes!" Zelena yelled. "Zelena, don't provoke them." Regina tried to calm her sister.

"No! If you lay a hand on Robyn I will kill you both myself." Zelena said through clenched teeth.

Fiona laughed at her. "How? You don't have your magic anymore dear."

"What are you going to do? Light your broom on fire and burn us?" Pan laughed.

 _We need to figure out their plan._ **Obviously.** _Hey, no need to get snarky here._ **Come up with something constructive and I won't.** _Well, I can't feel you coming up with any bright ideas._ **I'm thinking.** _No you're not! I'm in your head remember. You're just as scared as I am._ **Magic.** _What?_

"You want their magic." Regina said.

"Well well, the Evil Queen is not as dense as I thought." Fiona smirked. "Just try me fairy." Regina sneered. Fiona laughed in her face. **I'm going to burn that smirk right off that bitch's face!** _I'll hold her down!_

"Well as much as I've enjoyed this reunion, I'm afraid we have to run." Pan said. "Yes, we have things to prepare for." Fiona walked back to stand beside Pan and the other babies. "But don't worry about the little ones, we will take care of them." She smiled.

"As if they were our own." Pan finished. Then black smoke swirled them and they were gone. "No!" Belle screamed and fell into Rumplestiltskin's arms. Snow sobbed uncontrollably as Charming held her. Zelena fell to her knees and cried. Regina went to her and wrapped her arms around her crying sister.

 _Those fuckers are going to pay for this!_ **I'm going to kill them.**

Suddenly the temperature in the shop dropped thirty degrees. "What's going on?" Henry called from the corner. No one answered as they looked around and saw their breath come out in little puffy clouds.

"Hi everyone! Sorry about the cold, Elsa's a little nervous about Storybrook showing up just a few miles away from Arandelle all of a sudden. Elsa, just relax! You're going to give everybody frostbite! And they aren't dressed for the weather either. Although they are wearing clothes suitable for fall. Do you guys ever get summer in Storybrook? I always see you guys in coats and jackets. Especially Emma with her red leather jacket. Where is Emma anyway? I don't see her. But I do see a new face next to Hook. Hi, I'm Anna and this is my sister Elsa." Anna extended her hand to Mila and finally stopped talking.

 _What the fuck?_ **You took the words right out of my mouth sheriff.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 _ **Reading is fundamental**_

"So." Anna began with a big smile. "How's everyone been?" Regina rolled her eyes. **Great. The comic relief has just shown up.** _Hey, I like Anna. A little talkative, but she's nice enough._ **You would like her.** _Oooo, someone sounds jealous!_ **Why would I be jealous?** _Oh you don't have to be, she's nice but not really my type._ **Oh, and what is your type Miss Swan?** _Well, I like 'em with a bit of a dark side. Know anyone like that your majesty?_

"Elsa, Anna." Regina spoke to them in her most regal voice. She needed them to do as she says. "We have something very important going on right here. Something serious. We need to talk so if you two would be so kind as to go to Granny's and wait for me there I will be over as soon as we are done here and find out what caused you to come here." Anna frowned but Elsa put a hand on her sister's arm. "Anna, let's give them their privacy. We will talk to Regina later." Elsa gave an apologetic look as she escorted her still frowning sister out the door. Regina turned back to the others.

 **I can't think with all this wailing.** _Regina, their kids have been kidnapped. Have a heart._ **Well sitting here crying about it isn't going to get them back.** _If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it. Oh wait, I'm in your brain. Let me see, nope no bright ideas here._ **You're hilarious Miss Swan.**

"We need to come up with a plan." Regina announces to the room. Gold looked up from his embrace with bell. "Regina's right. Pan and the Black Fairy won't hurt the children. They need them alive for their plan."

"They're right." Charming told his wife. "Snow, I need you to take Henry, Belle and Zelena back home. We'll come up with a plan to get our children back." Through tears Snow looked up at her husband and nodded. She knew that Charming wanted to get Neil back, but in order to do so they didn't need the distraction of the others who were too emotional right now. She trusted him and he knew he could trust her to understand. "Okay."

Snow began to gather Belle and Zelena and move them to the door. Henry spoke up. "No, I want to stay and help!" Regina walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders and looked in his eyes even though she knew he couldn't see her. "Sweetheart, I know you want to help. But right now you're not in any condition to. Your mother and I are going to come up with a plan, I promise you we aren't going to do anything without you ok?" Henry was frustrated but he nodded. "Ok."

Regina watched as they left the shop, then she turned around to face the others. "So now what?"

"First," Rumplestiltskin began, "We need to find out what their goal is." _And how do we do that?_ **We use or heads sheriff. It's what intelligent people do. I know that's a foreign concept to you since you like to think with your fists.** _Just be glad I can't use my fists on you right now._ **Calm yourself Miss Swan. I can't think with you flexing your muscles in my brain.** _Ha. You know you like seeing me flex._ **Emma! Now is not the time!**

"Regina?" Charming prodded. "Are you still with us?" Regina blinked as her attention shifted back. "Yes, your daughter is distracting me." _You like it._

"Does she have any ideas?" Charming wanted to know. "When has she ever had an idea?" Regina snapped back. _Hey!_ Charming frowned.

"They want to take their magic!" Regina said as soon as the idea came into her head. _What?_

"What?" Charming echoed. **Slowness runs in your family sheriff.** _Watch it._ "Of course." Rumple chimed in. "They are planning something that requires great power. They need to steal the magic that each of the children have."

"The babies have magic?" Hook asked. **It's true that women go after men that are like their father. He's as dumb as Charming.** _I said watch it Regina!_

"Obviously." Regina said in a condescending way. "The son of the dark one, the product of true love, and the daughter of the wicked witch." "Regina's right. Our children have the potential to develop powerful magical abilities." Gold said.

 _Well, if that's true, why doesn't Henry have magic?_ **Isn't it clear to you Emma? Henry was born in a land without magic. Also Neil was not your true love.** _How do you know Neil wasn't my true love?_ **Because I… never mind.**

Emma thought about what Regina was saying. She was right, Neil wasn't her true love. Sure she had loved him. Deep down, however she knew it wasn't true love. There was no real magic with Neal. They had similar experiences, they saw the world the same way, and she grew to love him over time. It wasn't an instant spark. Not like her parents had described how they met.

As for Killian, well Emma wasn't sure now if she ever _really_ loved him. He had worn her down since they were in Neverland trying to rescue Henry. He just kept pushing himself on her and finally wore down her defenses to the point where she convinced herself she loved him. Even though she was an attractive woman no one had ever professed their love for Emma as much as Hook did. She wasn't used to someone loving her. She had isolated herself so much that she didn't think she deserved to be loved. Having been abandoned as a child she just assumed that being loved by someone just wasn't in the cards for her. When Hook said he loved her she was afraid that he was her last chance to be with someone. So she married him. And now he had his true love back from the grave. So where did that leave her. Alone as usual.

But, she wasn't actually alone now she thought.

"We need to figure out what they want to do with the children's magic." Regina was saying. "What is their end goal."

"Well I know the answer to that dearie." Rumple said. "It's what my parents have always been after. What they have wanted more than anything. Power."

"We have to stop them." Charming exclaimed. **Duh. Idiot.** _Ok, I can't really fault you on that one._

"It will take time to figure out what kind of spell they are planning to use. I suggest you all go and while I begin my research." having said that Gold disappeared behind his curtain into his back room.

"I'll head home to help Mary Margaret with the others. I'm sure they need support right now." Charming said as he left. "Good idea." Regina agreed. She turned to Hook and narrowed her eyes. "As for you, give me the potion back so I can free Emma." _You make it sound like I'm in a dungeon. It's kind of nice in here. Cozy._ **Not now Emma!**

"Sorry love," Hook started. "Afraid I can't do that. I already drank it."

"What? You wasted it?" Regina was upset.

"Well I didn't really know I was wasting it did I?" Killian bristled. "Just like you and everyone else I thought Swan was inside of me. Her husband. How was I to know she was inside her real true love your majesty." _Well, he's got us there._

"Congratulations Hook. You've managed to become completely useless." Regina spat at him. _Good one._ **Thanks.** She pointed to Hook and Mila. "Why don't you two get lost and get on with whatever the two of you do." _Yuck Regina._

"Careful now your majesty." Hook leaned into Regina trying to intimidate her. She leaned right back toward him. "Careful yourself pirate. You're lucky that Emma is inside me right now. I wouldn't want her to see what I'd do to you."

Mila put her hand on Killian's arm. "Come Killian. Let's go back to the ship." Killian gave Regina a dirty look before he turned toward the door. "Right love." He held the door for Mila and shot one last scowl at Regina that she shot right back at him. He broke the eye contact first and walked out.

 **How could you marry that ass?** _Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time._ **Alright let's go to Granny's and see what Frozen is doing here.** _Oh Regina, just Let It Go._ **If you start singing right now Swan, I swear to God…!** _Let it gooooo! Let it gooooo! Can't hold it back anymore!_ **I hate you.** _You love me._

(Storybrook, Granny's diner)

It was getting dark out as Regina entered Granny's. She was surprised when she saw "Ruby? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Oz?" Ruby was standing at the counter with Dorothy with Elsa while Anna was seated and stuffing her mouth with a huge cheeseburger.

"Tell me about it. But it looks like it's going around." Ruby indicated Elsa and Anna. "How is this possible?" Regina asked.

"It seems that the barriers that used to separate the realms is gone." Elsa spoke quietly.

"What?" Regina was stunned. "It seems that Anna and Elsa had the same experience that Ruby and I had." Dorothy began to explain. "They walked here."

"Walked? You didn't use a portal?" Regina searched for answers. "Nope." Ruby said. "No magic beans either. Just our own two feet."

"Four if you count your wolf form." Dorothy elbowed her wife. Ruby smiled. _Well this can't be good. How did this happen?_

"Pan and Fiona." Regina said out loud. "They have to be behind this." "Who?" Anna said with a mouthful of food.

"It's a long story. But this happening now can only mean trouble." Regina thought with her hand on her chin.

The door opened and Tinkerbell walked in with a large book under her arm. She saw Regina and breathed a sigh of relief. "Just the person I wanted to see." She walked over to the group. "What is it Tinkerbell?" Regina asked.

"I was going through Blue's office and found a hidden room filled with stuff she didn't want anyone to know about." Tinkerbell began. **I never trusted that shady little fairy.** "I found this book and after paging through it I think you might find it very interesting." She passed the big book to Regina.

"The Prophecy?" Regina said reading the title. She looked up at the former green fairy. "What is this?" "It's a book Regina, like the one that Henry has, but this one is different."

"How?" Regina wanted to know.

"Henry's book tells us what happened. This book tells us why it happened." Tinkerbell whispered. "And what will happen."

Storybook (Regina's mansion)

 _Guess we're going to read some bedtime stories huh? Maybe you should slip into something more comfortable. A sheer neglige? A see thru teddy? Or maybe go au natural?_ Regina frowned and flicked her wrist changing her clothes into a pair of sweatpants and a t shirt.

 **Why are you doing this?** _Doing what?_ **This! These remarks! This teasing or whatever it is! Do you think it's funny?** _I'm just kidding around Regina. Relax._ **Well I don't find it funny. You know how I feel and you continue to make fun of me? Do you know how hard this is for me? Having you discover my secret? Something I swore that I would never tell anyone about? Especially you! And now you make all these crass remarks making fun of my feelings for you!**

Emma felt terrible. _I'm-I'm sorry Regina. I was just, you know, fooling around. Just joking I guess._ **Well it's not a joke for me Emma! You were in my dream! And now you joke about it? Is that all you think of me or my feelings for you? That it's some big joke?** _No. No. I don't. I'm sorry. You know me, Regina. I have a hard time dealing with stuff like, you know, feelings. I was just trying to break the tension._

 _Regina?_

 _Regina?_

 _Wow. I did not think it was possible for someone to give you the cold shoulder when you're inside their head. I'm actually impressed that you're doing this. You're not having a single thought right now. That takes some real mental focus. Do you meditate. Regina?_

Emma heard Regina sob out loud. _Oh Regina! Don't cry! I'm sorry._ Regina continued to cry. _Please, Regina. I won't do it anymore._ **shut up.** _What?_ **I SAID SHUT UP EMMA!**

Regina got up from her bed and stormed over to her full length mirror with tears in her eyes.

"I love you you idiot!" She screamed at Emma's image in the mirror. "I've loved you for years! I have buried that love deep down even though it hurt me! It hurt me to look at you, to be around you and not be able to tell you how I feel! I didn't want anyone to know! I even convinced myself that I loved Robin and not you! But deep down I knew Emma! I knew that I could never and have never loved anyone the way I love you!" She stopped and held her arms to her chest trying to comfort herself. "Not even Daniel." She said in a whisper.

Emma's heart broke. She could see Regina crumbling in the mirror and all she wanted to do was take the crying brunette in her arms. She wanted to tell Regina everything was okay but she didn't. She couldn't because she was afraid. Emma was afraid of her feelings for Regina. Emma couldn't even acknowledge those feelings in her head. She couldn't even think the L word about her feelings with Regina. She knew the strength of the feelings she had for the queen. Those emotions have been boiling deep down in her soul and she could feel them threatening to erupt to the surface.

 _Regina, please talk to me._ **No.** _Come on, please._ **No.** _That sounds like talking to me!_ Emma's reflection smiled, hoping to get Regina to laugh. She didn't. _Well at least look at me if you won't talk to me._ Regina raised her head to meet Emma's eyes and Emma saw Regina's puffy red eyes and tear soaked cheeks. _Regina, I can be an asshole sometimes._ Regina chuckled in spite of herself.

"Sometimes?" _See! Made you smile!_ "Whatever Swan."

 _Regina, I don't know what to say to you. I'm not good at talking about my feelings. You know that. I don't even like to think about my feelings. We have that in common. We've both been on our own so long that we don't know how to let anyone in. I haven't got any experience with this kind of thing, well not a lot anyway. I just don't know what to say to you Regina. I just want you to know that I would never hurt you on purpose. I'm sorry for how I was behaving. It's just my way of dealing with uncomfortable situations. Using humor, you know?_

Regina smirked, "You call that humor?" _I'll control myself in the future ok?_ "Self control from you? I'll believe it when I see it."

Emma gave her biggest puppy dog eyes to Regina. _So do you accept my apology?_ **Fine. I accept your apology.** Emma's reflection broke into a huge smile. Regina felt a warm feeling inside her seeing Emma smile like that and she knew Emma felt it too. This time Emma was considerate enough not to mention it. _How about we crack that book open and do some reading?_ **With any luck it will give us a clue as to what Fiona and Pan are doing.** Regina sat down on the bed and opened the book.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: You guys are great! All the comments have made me so happy! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story! I'm seriously shocked by all the follows and favs! Thank you so much!**

Chapter 17

 _ **Freaky Friday**_

Storybrook (The Jolly Rodger)

Mila hummed in bliss as she nuzzled her face into Killian's bare chest. He looked down at his love and smiled, the sweat from their recent activity in his quarters shone on her forehead. She felt him looking at her and moved her head so she could lock eyes with her lover.

"What?" she smiled with a dreamy contented tone in her voice. "I feel like this is all a dream. I've missed you for so long. I've imagined holding you in my arms again and now you're here."

"Now I'm here." she repeated with a smile. "And I'm not going anywhere." He pulled her up to kiss her softly on the lips. His hand moved up her bare back slowly. She turned over and intertwined her fingers with his. They lay there in silence as her finger began to softly rub his wedding ring. "What about your wife?" she asked in a monotone.

Killian exhaled. "Yes, Emma." Mila pushed up onto her elbows and looked at him. "I love her".

She knew he would continue but she still prodded him. "But?" He locked eyes with her again. "But, I have never loved her like I loved and do love you." He kissed her again, this time with more passion. "You're going to leave her." It wasn't a question. "Yes my love. I will. She may hurt at first but Swan understands true love."

Mila nodded. "I would imagine so." she decided to say what they were both thinking. "Because it seems she's found hers." "Aye, it does." Killian said softly.

She looked at him quizzically. "You don't seem surprised." He shook his head slowly. "I know I'm supposed to be, but honestly I'm not." He got up from the bed and put his pants on. Talking about his wife to his lover had cooled his libido. Mila grabbed a robe and got up with him. "If you had ever seen them together you would know something was there." Hook continued as he opened his door. "Where are you going?" Mila asked after him, following behind. "Topside to get some air love. The two of them had a connection, an energy, that you could feel it when they were together. I admit it made me jealous at times."

Mila looked down thoughtfully as they continued to make their way up. "You're not angry?"

They reached the deck and looked out over the clear night sky. He held her close to him. "How could I be?" He said as he kissed the top of her head. "I wish Swan nothing but the best with Regina."

His eye caught something on the dark water. Mila noticed him tense up. "What is it?"

He let her go and grabbed his spyglass and extended. "It can't be." He whispered looking through it.

"What?" Mila began to feel nervous. He collapsed his spyglass and spoke in a low tone. "It's Neverland."

Storbrook (the Charming farm)

David saw his wife sitting on their bed looking out the window into the night sky. He walked over and sat beside her knowing what she was thinking about. "Henry's asleep. So are Belle and Zelena thanks to a few Xanax."

Snow didn't respond, instead she kept staring into the night. David put an arm around her shoulder and she allowed herself to be pulled into his chest. "I'm sure they haven't hurt Neil or the others. And we'll get them back very soon."

"But how do you know David?" Snow spoke softly, still looking off in the distance. "Because," he lifted her chin and looked into her dark troubled eyes. "We always find each other. And like Henry says, the good guys always win." She gave him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"What about our daughter?" Snow asked him softly. Charming cleared his throat. "Well, Regina will just use the potion and Emma will be back."

Snow looked down, deep in thought. "She's inside Regina." He knew what she meant. It was the elephant in the room that neither of them had approached yet. "That was, um, unexpected." he rubbed the back of his neck. Snow pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.

"But was it?" she questioned him. "I mean, is it really that unexpected?"

"Emma and Regina? Together?" he was trying to wrap his head around it. "David, think about it. The way they are around each other. Their connection to Henry. The way they balance each other out. If one of them was a man would it really be this hard to imagine them together?" Snow reasoned.

"Yeah, but she was The Evil Queen." he tried to counter. "And she's the savior. It makes perfect sense." she answered back. David thought about it. Maybe he would have been quicker to accept it if Regina was a Reggie instead. He kicked himself for thinking that way. Love was love and he never considered himself intolerant. And he of all people would never stand in the way of true love.

"I suppose you're right." he breathed. "There's just one thing though, they may be true loves and meant for each other but neither one of them has a great history of opening up to people."

Snow sighed. "That's true."

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

 _Regina, you're nodding off again!_ Regina jerked her head up quickly, tweaking her neck a little. "Ow!" _That'll teach you to fall asleep._ "Well can you blame me? The Blue Fairy was not Hemmingway. She's as dull on paper as she was in real life." _It is kind of dry._ "Kind of? If it were any drier I'd need an IV to stay hydrated." _Good one._ **I know dear.**

Emma enjoyed her banter with Regina anytime, but trading barbs inside Regina made it much more fun. More intimate, like it was just them alone in the world. Part of Emma wanted to stay like this. But she really missed her body, and eating.

 _Well, what do we know so far?_ "Besides Blue as a writer is as dull as shit? Not a lot. A lot of this is so symbolic and cryptic it's like reading the book of Revelation written by Dan Brown." _Not a fan of The Da Vinci Code I take it._ **At least the movie only took two hours.** _Maybe we should give it to Belle, she might be able to make heads or tails of it._ "It irks me that Tinkerbell was able to understand it." _Maybe it's a fairy thing._ **She's not a fairy anymore.** _Awww is the Evil Queenie upset that she can't understand the widdle ole bookie-wookie!_ Regina slammed the book shut and threw it across the room. **Oh shut the fuck up!**

She threw herself on her pillow and began to punch it to make it more comfortable. _Take it easy Tyson, that pillow never did anything to you._ **I thought I told you to shut up.** _I get it._ **Get what?** _I'm worried too. By themselves The Black Fairy and Peter Pan were the toughest people we ever went up against._ **And now we have to deal with them working together.** _Yeah._

They fell silent for awhile. Regina's eyes started to droop. _Regina?_ **mmm?** _Are you falling asleep?_ **Mmmhmm.** _See you in a little bit I guess?_ **Mmmmmm…..**

Emma was in the room she rented at Granny's the first time she came to Storybrook. _Huh. Been awhile since I was here. I wonder why Regina is dreaming of this place?_ She looked down and saw that she was dressed in the same tank top and panties she wore when Regina came to see her. _I guess that answers that question._ There was a knock at her door. _Showtime._

She opened the door and saw Regina wearing the same dress and holding the same basket of apples that she had before. Regina looked Emma up and down and a smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. "Still answering the door half naked I see."

"Well you dressed me like this!" Emma flapped her arms up and down.

"Why are we here?" Regina asked as she walked in past Emma.

"I don't know, this is your dream." Emma sat down on the bed. Regina sat down next to her. She put her head in her hands. Emma put her arm around her but Regina pulled away as if she was being burned.

"Don't!" Regina yelled. "What's wrong?" Emma was dumbfounded. Regina stood up. "Everything!" Now she was the one flapping her arms. "All this. It's wrong."

"What's wrong about it?" Emma wanted to know. "You. Here. Everything." Regina was pacing now and rubbing her hands together. "I feel like such a fool." She dropped her head, defeated. Emma stood up and put her hands on Regina's shoulders. "Hey, Regina." She looked up and chocolate colored eyes met cool green ones. "Look, I have a hard time letting people in. I think you should understand that." Regina gave a half smile.

"But you got in Regina." Emma looked deep into Regina's eyes. "All the way in. From the moment I saw you when you opened the door. All I could say to you was 'Hi' because my throat closed up. I thought I was going to pass out. I had never seen someone so beautiful in my life. It was like I was struck by lightning when I first saw you."

Regina's lips parted and her eyelids drooped. "It was a moment that I will never forget." Regina's eyes began to tear up. "Do I love you? Regina, I've been in love with you from the moment I saw you." Regina grabbed Emma's face in her hands and pulled Emma's lips to hers. Emma kissed her back ferociously their hands moved up and down the other's back. They tumbled onto the bed together laughing. "Emma?" Regina asked between breaths as they kissed. "Mmf. What?" Emma responded. "Promise me we will do this when you get your body back." Regina breathed down Emma's neck and sucked on her pulse point. Emma moaned. "Oh Regina, we're not going to do anything but this."

Regina laughed as she pulled Emma's tank top over her head revealing her pale breasts and pert nipples. She stared and Emma smiled. "You really like my breasts huh?" Regina smiled "Miss Swan, do you know how many years I have dreamed of seeing them? Just allow me a moment to appreciate them."

Emma swallowed as she looked into Regina's eyes. She could see her love in those eyes.

Not only that but she could feel Regina's love for her. It was almost overwhelming and Emma began to tear up. Regina looked down at her with concern. "What is it Emma?" Emma smiled as a tear ran down her cheek. "You love me." Regina crossed her arms and smirked. "Well of course I do you idiot."

"No." Emma's smile grew wider. "I mean you really, really, love me. I can feel it." She placed her hand on her own chest. "In here." She moved her other hand and placed it over Regina's heart. "And here." A tear ran down Regina's cheek as she began to smile. "I love you Regina." Emma said. "Oh Emma." Regina fell on top of Emma and kissed her with passion. Their tongues intertwined and traded positions in their mouths.

Regina moved down Emma's body and sucked on each nipple in turn. She looked on as pale skin turned pink after she released each nipple from her mouth. Then flicked the pointed nipples with her tongue earning a moan from the blonde. She slid down to Emma's hips and pulled the white panties down. She slid her hands up the long legs and stroked Emma's wet folds slowly.

"I can't wait to do this to your real body." She said lustfully as she licked the liquid off her fingers. "Neither can I." Emma breathed out shallowly. Regina faced Emma's core and began to devour it. Her tongue moving along the folds, licking up as much of the juice as she could but there was so much coming out of Emma that it still ran down her chin. "You're so wet Miss Swan."

"Uhnn, you get me so wet Madam Mayor." Regina winked and inserted two fingers inside Emma and moved them in and out slowly. Emma moaned as Regina picked up the tempo. Regina began to suck on Emma's clit and immediately she felt Emma's hips buck and her walls tightened around Regina's fingers. She smiled knowing that Emma was so close already. "Damn Regina! Holy fuck!" Emma screamed as her body went rigid and then shook as she rode out the waves of pleasure rolling through her body. Regina slowly cleaned up Emma's come with her tongue. She wondered if Emma would taste this good outside of her dreams.

Emma slowly opened her eyes and looked down between her legs at a smiling Regina. "You are amazing Madam Mayor." "Well I do enjoy impressing the Savior." she chuckled. "Well, your majesty it is time for the Savior to make an impression on you." Emma winked. Regina climbed onto the bed and laid down on her back as she pulled her dress up over her hips. "Well sheriff, impress away." She said with a smile.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 _ **Nobody rides for free**_

(Storybrook, Regina's mansion)

She felt great. Content. Relaxed. Blissfull. What did this woman do to her that made her feel so damn good?! Emma stretched underneath the silk sheets and felt the sun beam onto her skin. "Wait. What?" She sat up bolt right in the bed her eyes wide open. "Oh my God! I have my body back!" **Lucky you.**

Emma turned and looked around the room. "Regina? Where are you?" **Where do you think?** Emma jumped out of bed and raced to the full length mirror. In the reflection she saw Regina standing there with her arm crossed and a scowl on her face. "You're inside me?!" **Obviously. Idiot.** "How did this happen?" **How the hell am I supposed to know? Sometime during the night after we made love I found that I couldn't get back to sleep. I tried getting up and realized I couldn't move. That's when I deduced that we had switched places.** "Wow."

 **What are you doing? You feel amused.** Emma smiled. "You said we made love." Regina rolled her eyes. **Really sherriff? That's what you took away from what I said?** "You loooove me." Emma giggled and twisted her body around back and forth. **Oh my God.** Regina put her hand to her forehead and massaged her temples.

"So now what do we do?" **We try and make another potion to fix this. But being in your body I'm afraid that you might blow us both up.** "Hey! I can make a stupid potion!" Emma bit back. "If you show me how." She blushed. "But first I want to see Henry." **Okay.** "After a shower."

 **Really Swan?** "Hey, I was there when you did it." Emma winked. "Now it's your turn." She walked to the bathroom and toward the toilet. **What are you doing?** "What does it look like? I'm gonna pee." **Emma!** "Oh sorry your majesty, I shall urinate." Emma attempted a regal sounding voice.

 **You know some married couples go years without seeing their spouse do this.** Emma sat down. "Ooo, now we're a couple!" Emma said grinning. **Oh God.**

She finished and turned on the shower. "Now I get naked and clean my dirty body in the mayor's shower. And you better believe I'm going to touch myself." she giggled. **Emma!** "You like it."

After the shower and a heated masturbation session that they both enjoyed, though Regina refused to admit it, Emma got dressed and headed out to the Charming farm in Regina's car. "I think this is the first time I've driven your Mercedes. Nice." **If you get one scratch on it Swan.** "Maybe I'll change all the presets on the radio." **You are a child.** Emma laughed. Soon she was pulling up to the farmhouse where she got out and made her way to the front door.

"Mom? Dad? Henry?" Emma shouted as she walked inside. "Emma!" Snow came running from the kitchen and wrapped her daughter in her arms. David came running down the stairs with Henry holding onto his elbow behind him. "Mom! You're back!" David and Henry joined Snow and enveloped Emma in a huge group hug. **Typical Charming family moment.** "Yep kid, I'm back in my own body."

David looked behind Emma as they broke the hug. "Where's Regina?". Emma sighed. "We switched places last night. She's inside me now." Snow put her hand to her mouth. "She's inside you now?" **Brilliant observation as usual Snow. Idiot.** "Yep, she's in my head making snarky comments as usual."

"But she's okay right?" Henry asked. "She's fine Henry." **Oh my little prince is worried about me! Ask him how he is doing.** "I was just about to Regina. Your mom wants to know how you're doing and so do I." Henry shrugged "My hands don't hurt, they just feel kind of numb I guess. Apart from not being able to see anything I'm fine." "Good to hear."

"So what's the plan?" Henry asked. "Well first, Regina's going to try and show me how to make the potion and get us separated." **Hopefully you won't kill us both in the process.** "Hey, I can read a recipe!" Snow looked at Emma in confusion. "She doesn't think I can do it." Emma told her.

"I'll do it." They all looked up the staircase to see a tired looking Zelena making her way downstairs with an equally exhausted Belle behind her. "I may not have magic anymore but I still know how to make potions. I need to do something so I don't drive myself insane with worry." she said tiredly.

"Good." Emma nodded. **Tell her everything is in my vault and that the protection spell will let her inside.** "She says that you'll find everything in the vault." Zelena nodded. Emma turned to Belle. "We also have something for you if you're up to it." Belle took a deep breath. "Like Zelena I need something to keep my mind occupied. What is it?".

"In the car we have the book Tinkerbell gave us that Blue had. Regina and I tried reading it last night but couldn't make heads or tails of it. We're hoping you can." "I'll do my best. I'll need to take it back to Rumple's shop."

David grabbed the keys to his truck. "I'll drop you off at Gold's and then take Zelena to the vault." Both women nodded and followed David out the door. After Charming retrieved the book from Regina's car, they sped off in his truck.

"Well, I want to go talk to Killian." Emma said. "Before you go do that, I wanted to talk." **This better not be a Charming hope speech.** "Ok." Emma guided Henry and followed Snow into the living room. "What did you want to talk about?" Emma said as she sat on the couch with Henry across from Snow. Snow shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Well, it's about you and Regina."

 **Oh God.**

"What about us?" Emma asked.

"Do you love her?" Snow asked bluntly. Even though he couldn't see her, Henry turned his head towards his mom. Emma's cheeks began to color as she looked to the floor. Regina was silent in her mind as she waited on Emma's answer. Emma raised her head back up to look at her mother.

"Yes." Emma said with confidence. "With all my heart." Henry's face broke into a huge grin. Snow smiled with tears in her eyes. "Oh Emma! That's wonderful!" **Really?** "Really?" Emma said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Of course! My daughter is in love! If that spell is correct, which I think it is, that means it's true love!" Snow held her hands together over her heart. "I couldn't be more happy for the two of you!". Her face changed, suddenly looking serious. "That is, if Regina feels the same. Does she?".

Henry waited for the response too. **I do.** Emma smiled because she knew the answer before Regina said it. "She says she does." Emma said with a smile. "Mom that's great! I knew you guys were perfect for each other!" **What?** Emma turned to face Henry. "What kid?"

"You and mom are meant to be together!" Henry was excited. The look reminded Emma of the little boy of 11 who told her about the town of Storybrook. **He really does have the heart of the truest believer.** Emma swelled with pride. _That he does, that he does._ "The savior redeems the Evil Queen giving them both their happy ending!"

"Why did it take so long?" Snow spoke up. Emma sighed. "I don't know. I guess we were afraid of our feelings." **I'm not afraid of anything.** _Yeah right Regina, I'm in your head remember. Centipedes._ **Stop it.** _Their long snake like bodies and the hundred tiny legs._ **Stop it Emma!** _Yes your majesty._

"We are both really damaged people." Emma said. Snow felt a twinge of guilt knowing that some of that pain her daughter felt was due to the actions of David and her. Emma grew up feeling abandoned because they had to send her to this realm to keep her safe from the Dark Curse Regina cast in the enchanted forest. Snow would always live with that guilt. "We both have the thickest emotional walls built up. We don't let anyone in that we think can hurt us."

"After six years you both still denied your feelings for each other." Snow shook her head in disbelief. "What can I say? We are two very stubborn women." **I think you are more stubborn than I am.** _Really Regina? We're going to have a showdown over who is the most stubborn? And you call me the child._

"I would say so." Snow agreed. "It took a magic door to finally get you two to open up to each other." Emma nodded. "I guess so. After we both could actually feel that the love from the other was real we were finally able to let our guard down." Snow smiled."You can feel her love?"

 **Tell her what else I can feel from her daughter.** _Regina!_ **Tell her that I felt it three times in the shower.** _Stop it!_ Emma blushed. "Yes, I feel her love and she feels mine." then she muttered under her breath "Among other things." **Ha!** "What? I couldn't hear you." Snow said.

Henry saved Emma from embarrassment. "Grandma! Their love redeems you too!"

Snow and Emma turned to face a beaming Henry. "What do you mean kid?"

"Okay, everything goes back to the Dark Curse and everybody always blames mom for that."

Emma could feel Regina become uncomfortable. "But mom only cast that curse because she wanted revenge on you because of what happened to Daniel." It was Snow's turn to feel uncomfortable. "Mom turned into the Evil Queen and cast the curse. But you and grandpa had mom who was the only one to break the curse. Not only that, you gave birth to mom's true love! It's like fate balanced the scales with what happened to Daniel. They all fell silent in thought for a few minutes. "You don't go through the portal and have me then you never meet mom and you never break the curse!" Henry said to Emma. _It makes sense kind of. Regina?_

Regina was quiet for a while. _Regina?_ **Tell your mother I forgive her.** _Really?_ **Yes. If she hadn't told my mother about Daniel I wouldn't be with you. And you wouldn't have had Henry. I owe the two most important people in my life to her big mouth. So yes, tell her I forgive her.** "Mom, Regina says she forgives you." Tears fell from Snow White's eyes as she smiled broadly. "Thank you Regina."

 **Ok enough of this Hallmark Channel nonsense, let's go kick Captain Guyliner's ass.** _You watch the Hallmark Channel Regina?_ **It amazes me what your brain chooses to pay attention too.** Emma stood up from the couch. "Well, I'm going to go see Killian now. Before we get after Pan and the Black Fairy I want to get this taken care of. Besides, Regina is getting cranky about all the feelings floating around here." Henry chuckled. "Yeah I can imagine. I can hear mom now. Don't let her fool you, she's a softy at heart. She loves those sappy tv movies on the Hallmark Channel." _Ha! Busted!_ **Shut up.**

"What are you going to do about Hook?" Snow stood up from her chair. "Well, the honeymoon is over, that's for sure." Emma breathed. "Did you love him?" Snow whispered. "Honestly Mom, I don't know." Emma shrugged. "I really thought I did. I guess I wanted to, but honestly what I felt for him doesn't hold a candle for what I feel for Regina. I know that now, I guess I just didn't want to face it until now."

Snow nodded and followed her daughter as Emma walked to the front door. "I don't hate him, I've calmed down from the shock of seeing him with Mila." **I haven't. The bastard.** Emma chuckled. Snow gave her a questioning look. "Regina hasn't forgiven him yet." Emma explained. Snow smiled. "I would expect nothing less from her. I'm not ready to forgive him yet either."

"Mila was the love of his life." Emma said. "She was dead and now she's back? Imagine if that was dad." Snow closed her eyes and nodded but didn't say anything. Emma peeked over Snow's shoulder and spoke to Henry. "I'll be back kid, and we're going to get you fixed up soon." **Tell him I love him.** "Your mom says she loves you." "Love you too mom!" Henry shouted. Emma hugged Snow. "I better go."

Snow waved as the Mercedes pulled away. **Thank you.** _For what?_ **For loving me.** Emma smiled. _Regina, I should be the one thanking you! I'm a tough person to love._ **You're adorable. Now let's go sink the captain and his sea bitch.** _Regina!_


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you guys! Your comments keep me motivated! I hope you're enjoying reading the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! Stay tuned for more Swanqueen because I love writing Emma and Regina as a couple!**

Chapter 19

 ** _Divorce Court_**

(The Enchanted Forest)

Mulan dismounted her horse in the Queen's stable. She thanked the groomsman and started on her way to the throne room. She dusted off her armor as she walked. It had been a hard night's ride and she would have liked to stop to clean herself up but there wasn't time. She had to get Aurora's message to Robin Hood and the Queen as soon as possible. Mulan felt tired, so tired that she couldn't remember the last time that she didn't feel this way. Had it been a little over a week since the entire realm was in danger of being destroyed because of the Black Fairy? They hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath before these incursions started.

Mulan reached the doors to the throne room and was announced by the palace guards who allowed her entry. Inside she saw her friend Robin Hood was speaking to his fiance, The Evil Queen. Correction, the former Evil Queen. Mulan was happy for the couple and truly believed that the Queen had changed. As for Robin Hood, everyone was aware that this man wasn't the same Robin Hood they had known before. But this man was almost exactly the same, had the same mannerisms and tendencies. He behaved the same, even reacted the same way. Other than a few differences in his past it was as if he had never died.

However Robin had died, and this new Robin was not the same man who she respected enough to join his Merry Men. It was a little confusing, his men had now basically differed to him for leadership although Little John was technically the one who was in charge. Sadly the confusion affected Roland the most. The original Robin's son was too young to understand that this Robin was not the same man that was his father. Mulan's heart went out to the boy. He had lost both parents and both parents had been replaced by lookalikes. Zelena had posed as Marion and given birth to Roland's half sister and now he had this new father to deal with.

Then there was the Queen. Roland had grown close to Regina in Storybrook when she had been seeing the original Robin, but this version wasn't exactly the same Regina he had grown close to. Although this Queen was closest to being the original version among Roland's set of duplicate 'parents'. At least this Queen, who was technically half of the original, possessed the memories of her time with Roland. She also cared for Roland as 'she' had in Storybrook. That was better than nothing Mulan supposed.

"Mulan, welcome." The Queen greeted her with a genuine smile. In spite of herself Mulan liked the Queen. She had changed from the Evil Queen she was originally and Mulan heard that The Enchanted Forest had Regina Mills to thank for that. It was all very confusing.

"I have news from Aurora's kingdom." Mulan stated in a serious tone. The Queen and Robin adopted concerned looks as they both waited for her to continue. "An emissary from the kingdom of Agrabah arrived and demanded that we do something about the ogre problem that has spread into their realm." Robin Hood turned to the Queen "Then it is spreading." He said.

"Yes." The Queen said grimly. "The realms are merging together."

Storybrook (the docks)

"Hook! Get your leather pants loving ass out here!" Emma screamed at The Jolly Roger. **Nice one.** _Thank you._ "Swan?" Killian climbed up on deck and exclaimed in surprise. "You're back! I take it the potion worked then?" "Not exactly, Regina and I switched this morning somehow." Emma shook her head. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about." Hook's face fell. Mila climbed up on deck. Emma pointed at her. "That's what I'm here to talk about."

"Swan, this is very complicated." Hook began. "Not really Killian." Emma slid her wedding ring off her finger. "Give this to her because I don't need it anymore." She dropped the ring into his hand. "Love, it doesn't have to be this way." Killian started. **Oh God spare me.**

"Look, Killian, number one, don't call me 'love' ever again." Emma counted on her finger. "And two, our marriage is sooooo done." **That a girl.** "And you know what? I'm not even that mad Killian. I'm actually kinda happy that you two are together." Hook looked a little shocked. "Really?"

"Really, Killian." Emma relaxed a little "Being with Regina has made me realize that I've denied my feelings for her for a long time. Too long." Mila came over to Hook and put her arm around his waist and said "I'm happy for you." **Read the room bitch.** _Ha! Regina stop, you're going to make me laugh._

"Uh, thanks." Emma nodded to Mila. "I love Regina with a passion and strength that I honestly never felt with you Killian." He looked a little hurt. "Sorry, but it's true. I mean, I do love you, but just not in that way. We shouldn't have gotten married. I just thought that it was the next logical step to our relationship. But in all honesty I was just going through the motions I guess."

"I understand Swan." Killian inhaled deeply. "It still hurts, but I do understand." Emma extended her hand. "Still friends?" She queried. "Always." He smiled and shook her hand. **No fireballs? You're not even going to sink his ship? Lame.** _Why? For cheating on me? Need I remind you that we had sex too?_ **In dreams! Not in the real world! Not yet anyway.** _Making plans already Madam Mayor?_ **Focus Miss Swan, you're still in a conversation.** _Oh right._

Killian had been saying something and was looking at her curiously. "I'm sorry." she blushed. "I was talking to Regina." Killian nodded "Ah yes, the Queen is in there. Should I be worried about her ripping my heart from my chest when she returns?" Emma shook her head. "No she's going to behave herself." **Don't bet on it.** "You were saying Killian?"

Killian pointed with his Hook behind her. "I just wanted to let you know about the latest arrival to Storybrook." Emma turned to face what he was gesturing to and saw the island. "Holy shit! Is that…?" **Neverland.** "Aye it is lo-" Emma tossed him a scowl "Er, Swan. It appears Neverland is the newest port of call on the way to Storybrook." **How is this possible?** "It appears Pan was feeling a little homesick." Killian said.

"We need to talk to Gold." Emma said. **Why?** "Because he might know something?" **Like what?** "I don't know! Maybe how it got here?" **Pan brought it here obviously! What more do you need to know?** "Why are you so against asking him?" **Why are you so insistent on wasting time!? First we come here to The Love Boat to give Killian's hand away in marriage, now you want to talk geography with Gold! We need to be focused on stopping The Black Fairy and Peter Fucking Pan!** "Since when are you the one that want's to run off into danger half cocked? I thought that was my job!"

Mila and Hook looked on in confusion at Emma's angry discussion with herself. Emma stopped and looked at them. "Sorry, just having a fight with her majesty. I'm going to talk to Gold." **Ugh! You drive me crazy sheriff!** _You like it._ Emma ran down the gangplank and jumped into Regina's car. _Nice crack about giving away Hook's hand in marriage by the way._ **I thought you'd like it.**

Storybrook (public library)

Belle poured over the ancient book in fascination. There were so many parts she needed to read twice. She found it hard to comprehend how The Blue Fairy could keep all of this a secret from everyone. "People think that Rumple manipulates people," Belle muttered to herself "Wait until they see what Blue did." She grabbed the tome and stood up to leave the library but was stopped when a hand grabbed her shoulder suddenly and spun her around.

"Hello Belle." Fiona smiled. Belle gasped as The Black Fairy plunged her hand into Belle's chest and pulled out her heart.

Storybrook (Gold's shop)

"Gold! You in here?" Emma yelled as she walked into the pawnshop. Gold emerged from the backroom. "You bellowed Miss Swan?" Gold said. "Not surprised to see me?" Emma asked as she presented herself. "Not at all, because I have been researching the door and I know how the curse that you and the Queen are under works."

Emma's eyes widened. "You do? So tell me. Us." Gold stepped out from behind his counter. "The curse was made to merge two into one."

"Why?" Emma wanted to know. "For what purpose?"

"To create a new being, a being that becomes a mindless servant that will do whatever the caster commands." **They wanted to make you and Hook their slave to use against us.** "But I was supposed to merge with Hook instead of Regina." "Yes, and if you had merged with him the transformation would have been instant and you would no longer be you. Right now you would be trying to kill us. But the combination of the powerful magic that you and the Queen possess is fighting the curse and slowing its effect."

"How do we break the curse?" Emma asked. "The door must be destroyed and soon, the effects are already growing stronger as you are able to communicate with each other now. Soon you will be sharing emotions." "Yeah, already doing that." Emma interrupted. "Next you will be sharing memories and begin to lose your individuality. If the door is not destroyed soon the curse will be irreversible."

"Well we have to find that door. Now." Emma stated. "And where do you propose to start Sheriff?" Rumplestiltskin asked. **Neverland.** _Really? You sure?_ **Of course.** _How can you be so sure?_ **It's where I would keep it. Think like a villain Miss Swan.** "It's in Neverland." Emma told him. "Well then I'm afraid you're out of luck Savior." He responded.

"Don't be so sure, Gold. Neverland is here." she answered. Rumplestiltskin was silent for a moment. "Of course. With the merging of the realms he would want to recreate his home as his new capital."

"What does that mean? Have you figured out what they're doing?" Emma asked. The door to the shop opened and Belle walked in.

"I can answer that." Belle spoke. "The Black Fairy and Peter Pan are merging all the realms into one. Then they will rule it as gods."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 21

 _ **Leftovers**_

Storybrook (outside the sheriff's station)

Storybrook was becoming very crowded. The small town was quickly becoming a crossroad for people brave enough to venture out of their realm and journey to another. There were people from The Enchanted Forest, Oz, Agrabah, Arandelle, and some places that Charming had never heard of before.

Along with the new arrivals came new problems and new troubles. Some of the travellers had come to Storybrook and now wanted to settle there. The problem was there was no place to put them all. Also the culture shock was causing confusion to people who didn't understand indoor plumbing much less telephones or cars. Now there were horses and carts clogging the streets and people using the gutters for toilets. Granny's boarding house had filled to capacity in hours. The local economy was now being flooded with gold coins and jewels. Charming tried to warn a few of the local merchants of the problems of accepting them as currency, but greed outweighed common sense in most instances. Now the local stores and business were flush with gold but running short on supplies because no one could agree on an exchange rate to deal with the different currencies.

The thing that occupied Charming's time the most was the fact that not all of Storybrook's new inhabitants were interested in just commerce or tourism. Crime had more than tripled now that bandits from all the realms could traverse over borders and continue their criminal activities without fear of their reputation following them. Lootings, muggings, vandalism and a host of other crimes kept most native citizens of Storybrook of the streets. As a result David had to make emergency deputies of just about every able bodied man and woman in town. The schools were closed, the hospital was full, not even the garbage was being collected.

The town was on it's way to collapsing. If nothing was done soon David feared that Storybrook would become beyond saving.

Emma came into the station and pushed her way past Marco and Will Scarlet to get to her office. She noticed the panicked look on their faces and the brand new deputy badges on their coats. They were trying to push a few drunk thugs from God knows where into the already packed holding cells. Emma kicked one in the groin and the man dropped like a sack of potatoes. Marco nodded a 'thank you' and rolled the man into the cell.

Emma entered her office and saw her father on the phone looking frazzled. "I'll get somebody over there as soon as I can." he was saying "Well try to shoo the donkeys out of your house in the meantime." He hung up the phone and rubbed his temple.

"Looks bad in here." Emma said. "It's worse out there." David offered up. "We need to get this handled and soon." He was exasperated.

Emma felt sadness coming from Regina. _Hey, what's wrong?_ **My town. They're destroying my town.** Emma wanted to comfort her. _We'll rebuild Regina._ **There might not be anything left. That is if we're even around to rebuild.** _We will be._ **How do you know that Emma? I mean really, how do you know that we will survive this.** _I know this because_ _we are together Regina. We can do anything. You and me, we will win this._ Emma felt Regina's confidence grow a little. **You never cease to amaze me Miss Swan. Your faith in your abilities is your greatest strength. I find myself loving you more and more all the time.** Regina's words warmed her soul. She swelled with love for the brunette mayor. _I love you too Regina._

"We might be able to stop this soon dad." Emma stated. "Fiona and Pan are on Neverland. They've got Belle's heart and they've invited me and Rumple over there." **Ahem.** "Oh, and Regina too I guess." **Thanks for remembering me.** _Sorry._

"Well you're not going alone." Charming said standing up. **I knew he would say that. Your father is so predictable. Idiot.** _Regina._ "They told us to come alone." Emma answered him.

"I'm not letting my daughter face those monsters by herself. I'm coming with you." his jaw was set. He was not going to be dissuaded. Emma threw up her hands. "Fine, but we're going armed to the teeth. How does the armory look?"

Charming ran his hands through his hair. "Well, you have your pistol and I have mine. Most of the shotguns are out being used by our deputies. We have one left. There are two assault rifles left. So not much. But there is more than enough ammunition, thankfully we haven't had to use much."

"Well we're going to bring all that." Emma said. **That won't be enough.** _I've seen Pan catch an arrow, let's see how he does against a burst from an AR-15._

"We'll leave in the morning." Emma said. So let mom know because I know that if you're going then she's going." she sighed deeply. "And I'm just too tired to fight you on it right now."

Charming smiled tiredly. "Smart. How are we going to get over there?"

"I know a pirate that'll give us a lift." she smiled back at her father. His eyebrow went up. "You and Hook work things out?"

"Yeah we did." she said with a smile. "He found his true love. And I found mine. So we're good."

"Emma, about that. You and Regina I mean." He walked around the desk and put an arm around her. "Regina and I have had our problems over the years." **There's an understatement.** "But she's changed. She's not The Evil Queen anymore. She's a wonderful mother to Henry and even though she won't admit it, I think we are even friends now." **Friends? Really?** _He's being nice Regina! Behave._ **Or what? You'll punish me?** Emma felt Regina's arousal. _Regina! You are not doing this when I am talking with my father!_ **You're no fun.**

"What I'm trying to say here is, I'm happy that you to have found each other." He was saying. "True love is precious and rare. It's powerful, the strongest thing there is. So I'm happy for you. I love you Emma." He embraced her and Emma fought back tears. "I love you too dad."

 **Tell him…** Emma felt the emotions welling up in Regina. **Tell him I said…. Thank you.**

Emma pulled back enough to look in her father's teary eyes while staying in his warm embrace. "Regina says thank you." He smiled. "And she means it too. I can feel her in my heart."

David let her go after one more squeeze. "Alright then." He said wiping his eyes. "Go get some sleep and we'll meet by the docks at first light."

Emma wanted to tell him to get some sleep too but she knew that he wouldn't. She left with a smile.

Neverland

The children lay sleeping in their cocoons. Suspended above the ground by magic and resting under a sleeping curse. Thin wisps of light radiated from them like glowing streamers into a black crystal hanging in midair. In the large but primitive treehouse both Peter Pan and Fiona circled around the crystal equal paces apart in a clockwise motion.

"They won't come alone you know." Pan said. "Yes, I know." Fiona answered him as if she was bored. "If there is one thing that can be counted on is the fact that the Savior never follows instructions."

"But it won't matter. There's nothing that I haven't planned for." she smiled.

Pan wasn't impressed. "The Evil Queen being her true love was unplanned." She smirked.

"True. I thought that the pirate was, but no matter. This way we don't have to kill the queen." "But the power of their combined magic could be trouble for us." Pan advised. "Together they are quite powerful. More than they realize."

"It won't matter. They don't have much time before they become our servant." She waved her hand as if she were shooing away a troublesome fly. "And their power could be needed if our son refuses to join us."

Pan chuckled. "He will. I don't know why you continue to waste time with him." "Because he is our son." She stated firmly. "You would do well to remember that instead of wasting your attentions on your 'lost boys'. He's the only lost boy you should be concerned with."

"He's too old now." Pan shook his head. "I find your interest in young boys distasteful." Fiona sneered. Pan's eyes narrowed "Be careful my wife. I could say the same about your obsession with our son."

They both grew silent and stared at each other. "We're going to have to kill him you know." Pan said to her. "Maybe. If he doesn't join us we'll have the power of The Dark One all to ourselves I suppose." She answered.

"Yes." He agreed before continuing. "We will."

He broke the circle they had been walking around the crystal and strolled to an opening in the treehouse that served as a window. He looked out over the water to Storybrook, its lights reflecting off the dark sea. I'm kind of pleased that the pirate wasn't trapped with the door. I owe him and I would like to play a game with him."

Fiona sighed. "You and your foolish games. They will be your undoing."

Pan flashed her a sinister smile. "Haven't you heard? Pan never loses."

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Emma entered the mansion, happy to see it was untouched from vandals. As she had driven from the station she had seen a lot of Storybrook's homes had been wrecked. Broken windows and torn up lawns had saddened her. Storybrook was her home now and it hurt to see it this way. **I have a protection spell over my mansion for this very reason.** Regina was reading Emma's mind.

 _There you are Regina! I missed you. You were pretty quiet on the ride here._ **I know.** Regina hesitated and Emma felt she was debating on whether to say something or not. _What is it? You can tell me._ **The curse we're under. I think our merging is getting worse. I can see your memories now.** _Oh._ **I can feel that makes you uncomfortable.** Emma sighed as she made her way to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and looked around. "Ooo lasagna!" she smiled and pulled out the container. **I was saving that!** "Yeah, for me!" She smiled as she grabbed a fork and dove in. **You're not even going to warm it up!** "Fine like this." Emma said with her mouth full.

 **You don't have to talk with your mouth full. You can just think it. Don't be such a barbarian.**

 _This so good!_ **It would be better warm.** _Who has time for that?_ **This is the woman I love.**

Emma began to walk upstairs to the bedrooms. **Where are you going with that? You are not eating in** _ **my**_ **bedroom!** _That's funny, because it sure looks like I am. Consider this your punishment._ **I thought you'd be dishing out a different form of punishment in the bedroom Miss Swan.** _After lasagna._

Emma continued to eat in silence on the bed. _It's still bothering you._ **I'm sorry. I know that you are a very private person and this feels like an invasion of privacy. I don't have any control over this.** _It's ok Regina._ Regina was quiet for a while. **I'm so sorry Emma.** _I told you it was okay._ **No, I mean your life before. Your childhood, your life before Henry found you. You were so alone. And it's all my fault.** Emma felt the incredible anguish coming from Regina. **If I hadn't cast that damn curse you would have enjoyed a wonderful childhood with your parents. Instead you spent all those years feeling abandoned and lonely.**

She knew Regina had a point, but Emma couldn't imagine her life growing up in The Enchanted Forest. _Regina, I'm a city girl. I would have been so out of place there with all the horses and trees. I need concrete under my feet and ESPN on the tv._ **Don't be glib Emma, I mean it. I ruined your life!** _Stop it! You did not ruin my life! Everything that happened in my life led me to you. Sure it sucked at the time, but now that I see how all that got me you I wouldn't change anything about it._ **But your feelings are so deep and so sad.** _Well then you better work hard to give me happy memories for the rest of my life._ **I will. I promise you Emma. I will spend every waking moment of my life trying to make you happy. I love you so much.** _I know._ **Did you just Han Solo me?** _You know about Han Solo?_ **I raised Henry you know. Don't you think that I've seen Empire Strikes Back a million times already?** _Ha!_

Emma finished the lasagna and fell backward on the bed holding her stomach. _Oh my God! That was almost better than sex!_ **Oh really?** _I said almost._ **Well then sheriff, maybe you should get to sleep so I can show you how well I can really cook.** _Ooo, I can go for dessert. I have a real craving for a taste of royalty._ **Mmmm. Well Bon' appetit.**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Well it's about to get serious! I think we are a little more than halfway through and I hope you all stick with me until the end. Thanks for the comments! I smile when I read each one!**

Chapter 21

 _ **Ship of fools**_

Storybrook (Emma's dream)

To her it seemed like he was ten feet tall. He was so strong, much stronger than she was at 16 years old. His eyes looked like dark caves that seemed to go deeper and deeper into infinity. Black, cold, menacing. She could feel his hot breath that smelled of cigarettes and coffee on her face. So close to her that the sweat from his face fell on her cheeks and mingled with her tears. The thought of his sweat joining with her's was something she would always remember as a terrible violation of her soul. Shame filled her as he forced himself closer to her. But her anger was growing inside her like a fire and soon raged like an inferno. She would soon knee him in his groin and force him to the ground and escape.

As her history was about to play out as it had in the past, a scream seemed to pierce the whole of her reality. "Leave her alone!" Her tormentor was flung off her body and then he was engulfed in flames. Soon there was nothing left of him, not even a pile of ashes to signify that he ever existed.

Regina ran to Emma and held in a tight embrace. "Emma, he's gone. It's ok. It's ok." She repeated over and over as she rocked her in her arms. Emma aged into adulthood as Regina held her. She looked up into the eyes of her savior and smiled. "I was able to run from him back then, but I like your way much better." she winked at Regina.

"Emma I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Regina had tears in her eyes. "It's alright Regina." she moved her fingers softly over Regina's cheeks. "That was the last time I ever felt like I didn't have control. I think I grew into an adult after that. I was forever on my guard going forward."

"Oh, Emma." Regina closed her eyes and moved closer until their foreheads touched. "You are so strong. You have always been a fighter. I am so proud of you."

Around them their world began to change until the darkened bedroom turned into a regal bedroom in a glorious castle. Emma looked around in awe. "This is beautiful. Are you doing this? I've never seen this place before." Regina opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. "This is my bedroom from when I was married to Snow's father." she said in confusion. "How are you dreaming this?" she said.

"I think you're controlling my dream." Emma answered. Regina frowned. "It's the merging from the spell. We are becoming one being, sharing dreams." Emma saw that Regina began to look sad. "Hey, we are going to beat this remember?" she said to her lover, holding her hand. Regina gave her a small smile. "Always so positive." Emma returned the smile with a grin. "That's what balances us out."

Emma ran her hands over the soft bed. "This is nice." she gave Regina a lustful look. "I think we should take advantage of this bed before we wake up." Regina returned the look with one of her own through her smoky brown eyes. "You, my dear Miss Swan, are insatiable." Emma pulled her into a passionate kiss. "Only when it comes to you my queen." she breathed between kisses.

They tumbled back onto the bed and intertwined their two bodies. They kissed each other with enthusiasm and their tongues wrestled for dominance in their mouths. Neither one giving in as they dueled which just fueled their passion even more. Their moans grew in strength as they each kissed the other closer to ecstasy. Their clothes hindered the contact that their bodies were craving and they began to tear them away. Naked bodies moved against the other and the heat between them grew.

"My God Regina." Emma moaned "I have never felt this good in my life as I do when I'm with you like this." Regina felt the heat in her core as Emma spoke those words. "Emma you make me whole. I was incomplete before I knew you. I need you now and for the rest of my life." She said this as she kissed up and down Emma's neck. Emma's heart felt like it was going to explode as she heard those words come from Regina's mouth. No one in her life had ever loved her as much as Regina did and Emma knew in her soul that no one else ever would.

"Regina I love you so much." she said as she slid two fingers inside her. Regina gasped in pleasure as she felt Emma enter her. Her eyes began to roll back into her head as Emma pumped her fingers slowly in and out of her. Regina then plunged her fingers into her lover's wet and pulsing mound. Emma moaned with joy as Regina began to slide in and out of her. Their hands soon fell into a rhythm and began to quicken their pace. Their hips moved up and down in unison. They felt the wave crash against them at the same time. Screams of pleasure now dueled in the air as they left their mouths. Finally after riding out their orgasms together they collapsed into each other. Their bodies glistened with sweat and they both stared deeply into each other's eyes. Blue green eyes met brown and neither looked away. No words passed between them, but they both knew that they were pledging, right there and then, to love each other with all of their being forever.

Storybrook (the docks)

They stood assembled on the docks as the morning sun began to peek over the horizon. Hook and Mila, Snow and David, Rumplestiltskin and Belle, and Emma. They were about to board The Jolly Roger but first they would say goodbye to the ones that would stay behind. Henry and Zelena stood together and she spoke to Emma first. "How I wish I could go with you. Take care of my sister and bring my baby back to me." Emma nodded to her, "You have my word." Zelena leaned in to whisper in Emma's ear. "I love you sis, be safe." **I love you too Zelena.** "She says she loves you too." Emma smiled at her and Zelena returned it before stepping back. Emma turned to Leroy and the other dwarves. "You guys make sure there is still a town for us when we get back."

All seven nodded in the affirmative as Leroy spoke for them. "You got it sherriff." The dwarves went over to where Snow and David were standing. "We wish we could go with you guys."

Snow put a hand on Leroy's shoulder and smiled. "You are needed here. Keep the town safe." Leroy turned to David and extended his hand. "Take care of our princess." David shook it. "And yourself." David smiled. "Will do Leroy."

Finally Emma went to Henry. "Moms, I have a bad feeling about this." Henry's face was grim. "Star Wars reference kid? Nice." Emma attempted to joke. "I'm serious mom. Just be careful over there." Emma hugged him close. "We'll come back to you Henry. I Promise." **Tell our little prince that I love him very much.** "Your mom loves you and I do too." she kissed his forehead. "Always remember that."

"Right then, let's shove off shall we?" Hook announced. They all began to board the ship. As the ship slipped out of the dock their family and friends waved and shouted wishes of good luck and goodbyes. They stayed there until the ship disappeared into the morning mist.

Storybrook (aboard The Jolly Roger)

Belle stood next to Rumple who looked off towards Neverland. "It will be nice to see you again my beloved boy." the voice was Belle's but Rumple knew it was Fiona. "The last time we saw each other was so disagreeable."

Rumple turned and looked at the face of the woman he loved but for the first time he had hate etched on his face. "I thought I killed you before." He growled "This time I will make sure you die."

Belle's hand moved to his face and he recoiled as if stung. "My dear boy. I do all this for our family. We can be together forever." Through clenched teeth he said "The only family I have is Belle and my son. You and my father can go to Hell."

"I've been there" Belle smiled "And I have no intention of returning." Rumple stepped back and looked at her quizzically. "How did you manage that by the way? How are the two of you alive? Magic can't raise the dead." Belle threw her head back and laughed "Oh my child, even The Dark One himself has no idea about the true nature of magic."

Belle walked around the deck getting the attention of all aboard. "None of you know what I know about magic and it's true power. I have more power than you can dream of. With the knowledge I have accumulated over the years death has no power over me. I was disappointed when you 'killed' me my son. But I was no more dead than you are, my physical body was destroyed but I had transported my spirit far away. Now with the knowledge that the Blue Fairy hoarded in her precious book and the powerful magic that was left in the vault I am all powerful."

Emma spoke up "You're not all powerful. If you were then we would already be dead and you would have everything you wanted. You're bluffing." Belle moved to Emma and stared at her with malice "My dear savior I can't wait to kill you for good with my bare hands." **Just try it you bitch!** Emma leaned in to get nose to nose with Belle. "Bring it."

Hook rang the bell "Land ho!"

Belle announced to them all "Welcome to Neverland!"

The Enchanted Forest (The Evil Queen's Castle)

The Queen woke with a start, waking Robin Hood in the process. "What is it my love?" He asked sleepily. "I had a terrible vision. I saw Regina and the others die in Neverland!" He attempted to comfort her. "It was just a dream my dear. Nothing more."

She shook her head and got up to get dressed. "We need to go to Neverland. We must help them." Robin began to get up. He knew by her tone that she would not be talked out of it.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I'm so sorry. This chapter may be dark but remember that it's always darkest before the dawn. I might put out another chapter later because I feel so bad about this.**

Chapter 22

 _ **Casualties of war**_

Neverland

The party disembarked from the rowboat and strode off the beach into the trees of Neverland. Belle led the way with Gold right behind her. Emma stayed in the rear to watch for any ambushes and Belle noticed. "My dear Savior, this is not a trap. I have extended the invitation, there's no need for any of that."

"Pardon me if I don't trust you." Emma spat back. Belle shrugged and continued onward. The group moved in silence with their senses heightened by their nerves. **She's too confident.** _I would have said cocky, but you're right. She's not afraid of us._ **We pose no threat to her.** _She thinks that's the case._ **I'm worried Emma. Promise me you won't do anything stupid.** _Since when do I ever do anything stupid?_ **You want a list? But please Emma, promise me.** _Ok, I promise._ **Liar.** _You love me._ **I must be an idiot too.**

In a clearing they came upon a tall and ancient tree with a huge and elaborate treehouse. Sliding down a rope to the ground came a smiling Peter Pan. "Everyone is here to play with me I see." Belle walked to Pan's side while Gold attempted to grab her arm but she slipped through his fingers. "Belle please." Gold pleaded quietly but her face returned only a vacant expression. In a large plume of black smoke The Black Fairy materialized along with the floating cocoons of the three children. She was dressed in an impossibly long black gown with a long flared collar around her neck that extended over her head like a peacock. On her shoulders the dress came to points that extended like talons away from her body. Her hair flowed in pitch black waves down her shoulders and her lips were painted coal black. Her white teeth contrasted with her lips like stars in a night sky as she pulled them into a sneer.

"Neal!" Snow attempted to run to her baby but David held her back. "No Snow! He's okay."

"Yes my dear. Your baby is just fine." Fiona said. "For now."

"Give us the children!" Emma demanded. Pan shook his head. "No, no, no. The game doesn't work that way." Fiona rolled her eyes. "You and your foolish games."

"Where's Belle's heart?" Gold yelled. The heart appeared in Pan's hand. "Here it is son. But you'll have to play the game to get it back." Gold's lips pressed together in rage. "What is your game then?" Fiona smiled broadly. "To win back your love's life you must join us so that we can be a family again." She stretched her arms out as if she was waiting for him to embrace her.

"Oh, and also you must kill the Savior." Pan added. They all drew their weapons. Emma pulled her gun, David pulled his sword, Snow nocked an arrow into her bow and Killian along with Mila drew cutlasses. "Never!" David shouted.

"How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?" Gold asked. "You can't be considering this!" Hook yelled at him. "Because you're our son." Fiona started. "We would never betray you."

Gold turned to face the party. "I'm sorry." It looked like there were tears beginning to build in his eyes. "But it's Belle."

 **That traitorous bastard!** Emma refused to believe that Gold would betray them like this. She froze as Gold's hand began to glow with magic. Killian rushed to him and swung his cutlass. Suddenly Pan was in front of him and blocked his slash with his own cutlass. "I have been waiting for this for a long time pirate." Pan jeered at Killian. "So have I." Killian growled.

Snow fired an arrow at Gold but it fell to the ground at his feet, stopped by his magic. "Snow!" David yelled as he attempted to get between his wife and Gold. David readied his sword and faced off with Gold. "Let's see how well you fight without that sword Prince Charming." Serena said from behind her son. A blast of black energy left her hand and sheared off David's arm at the elbow disintegrating the limb and the sword.

"David!" Snow dropped her weapons and rushed to her husband's side as he crumpled to the ground in agony.

"Dad!" Emma shook free from her impassivity and fired two rounds at Fiona. She disappeared in a cloud of black smoke and materialized high above them in the treehouse. Snow held David in her arms and cried as he screamed in pain. Gold seemed stunned by the scene going on around him.

Emma broke into a run toward the treehouse. **Emma! What are you doing?!** _I'm going to kill her!_ **Stop! She's too powerful! You can't do it alone!** Emma ignored her and ran to the rope and began to climb up. Behind her on the ground Hook continued to duel Pan with an enraged look on his face. Pan on the other hand appeared to be enjoying the fight as he smiled as he countered the vicious swings from Hook's cutlass.

Gold's face showed his conflicting thoughts as he looked at the chaos around him. He looked down at his feet and saw Snow weeping over her now unconscious husband. She looked up at him with rage in her eyes. "You are a coward." she whispered. "If you're going to kill us then get it over with."

The anguish showed on his face as he looked back to Belle who was standing stone still. He looked back at Snow. "This must end." He said absently. He turned away from Snow and walked to Belle. With tears in his eyes he softly kissed her soft unresponsive lips. "I love you Belle." The tears streamed down his cheeks. He turned away after one last glance and walked to the treehouse.

Emma reached the top of the rope and climbed into the treehouse where the Black Fairy was waiting. She stood by the door that had trapped them in the curse and was holding the book stolen from the Blue Fairy.

"So," Fiona looked at Emma and then allowed her eyes to roam around the drab surroundings of the treehouse's interior. "This is where we shall have the Final Battle. Disappointing really." Emma said nothing as she advanced with her gun pointed at Fiona's head.

Down below Snow was absently aware that Hook and Pan had battled their way from the treehouse and back towards the ship with Mila following behind them. She looked down at her unconscious husband and kissed him softly on his forehead. "I'm going to help our daughter. I'll come back for you." She rested his head on the ground softly, grabbed her weapon and ran towards the treehouse. She stopped short at the babies who continued to float suspended above the ground. She reached for Neal but couldn't touch him through the field that was around him. She looked at his face and he appeared to be asleep. With teary eyes she kissed the field close to his face. "I love you Neal." She turned reluctantly and continued on.

Emma shot at Fiona again and again. Each time the Black Fairy would teleport away and reappear somewhere else inside the treehouse. Then the gun clicked as Emma squeezed the trigger. The magazine was empty. Emma's eyes widened in panic as she reached for another clip in her gunbelt. Fiona smiled as a black bolt shot from her fingers. Before it reached her it was deflected by another black bolt. Gold stepped into view. "Give me the heart mother or I will kill you." He said in an angry whisper, his face twisted in hate.

"You know what you have to do to get it. Kill her." She pointed to Emma who had finished loading her weapon. She switched her aim from Gold to Fiona repeatedly. _What do I do Regina? Regina? Regina!_ Emma began to feel a pull inside her as the door began to glow. **Emma!** Regina's voice sounded far away. **I can't hear you! Can you hear me!** Emma dropped her gun to the ground as her knees gave out. She began to feel as if she was coming apart. _Regina! I can barely hear you! Something is happening!_ **Emma? Are you there? It's the curse! We're too late! We're beginning to merge!** Emma felt like she was losing herself. She tried to remember Boston but it began to fade from her memory. Her time in jail was slowly going away. _Regina! I'm losing myself!_

Hook had backed up to the gangplank of the Jolly Roger. Sweat drenched his entire body and his arms burned from the continuous fighting. He looked at Pan who was still smiling and hadn't broken a sweat. Furiously he tried to swipe at Pan and lost his cutlass as Pan parried it away. He turned and ran up the gangplank onto his ship.

Pan followed him slowly, laughing. "Getting tired pirate?" Pan swung the cutlass lazily in front of him and he got closer and closer to Hook. "I however have the endurance of a child! I can fight like this all day."

Hook tripped over a rope on the deck and fell over on his side hiding his hook and his hand underneath him. He kept his eyes trained on Pan and the cutlass that was moving closer to his throat. "You're no child." Hook spat at him "You're a demon." Pan threw his head back in laughter and then leveled his gaze at hook with a smile that refused to meet his cold dark eyes. "Goodbye Killian Jones."

"Die you monster!" A cutlass blade shot throw Pan's chest from behind and he looked down at the blade in shock. He dropped his weapon to the ground. Mila appeared from behind him and left her weapon in Pan's chest as she sped around him to help Killian to his feet. "Are you alright?" She asked him. "Aye love." he smiled and was about to say more as his blood ran cold when he saw Pan rise up behind her with a dagger in his hand and murder in his eyes.

Hook began to cry a warning to Mila but it died in his throat as Pan swiftly moved the blade across her neck leaving a deep gash that immediately spouted bright red blood covering his face.

"Mila!" Hook howled as she fell into his arms. She looked at him with surprised eyes "Killian?" she asked. Then her eyes glazed over and stared off into the distance, unmoving. "No!" he screamed as he buried his face into his lover's hair.

Pan wobbled on his feet as he started to push the blade out of his body with his hands causing blood to drip through his fingers where he gripped the cutlass. Slowly the blade slid out of his body and fell to the deck. Pan bent down to pick it up with a shaking hand. "I'll deal with this wound in a moment after I finish you pirate."

Killian stood on his feet as he laid Mila's lifeless body onto the deck. He looked at Peter Pan with an unholy rage in his eyes. "Aye. You'll finish me. But you won't survive." Killian swiftly dragged his hook across Pan's chest, ripping flesh and coming to rest it in the hole that Mila's cutlass had created. Just as fast Pan ran him through with his weapon. The point of the blade knocked over a lantern behind Hook as it came out of his back. The lantern oil ignited and spread on the ship. Pan grinned but then his face changed into a pained expression as he looked down to see black veins beginning to spread from where the hook hung in his chest. Hook smirked as the sweat poured down his face and the blood trickled out of his mouth down his chin. He opened his hand and showed an empty vial to Peter Pan.

"Dreamshade." Killian laughed and then began to cough blood. "It's the end for you Peter Pan." The skin on Peter Pan's body paled and the veins spread rapidly until they covered his entire body like a spider web. "Not fair." Pan gasped and collapsed to the deck, dead.

Hook fell to his knees as the fire spread along the ship out of control. He cradled Mila's head in his lap and kissed her leaving his blood, sweat, and tears to slide down her face. "Wait for me love." He whispered to her "We'll never be apart again." He closed his eyes and died before the flames engulfed them.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I told you I felt bad. So here's another chapter. Two in one day!**

Chapter 23

 _ **The butcher's bill**_

Snow White reached the top of the rope and her eyes grew wide as she viewed the scene inside. The Black Fairy and Rumplestiltskin were in a vicious battle of magic. Magic bolts were thrown back and forth and deflected with great effort. The sound from their fight was almost deafening and the two combatants wore strained looks on their faces as they fought. Then Snow saw her daughter on her knees convulsing. She ran to Emma and tried to help her.

"Emma!" Snow turned her face and looked at her daughter. What she saw horrified her. **Sn** _om?_ **We** ' _re com_ **ing apa** _rt! Get_ **away fr** _om us!_ **We** _don'_ **t wa** _nt to_ **hu** _rt_ **youuu** _uuuuu!_ Snow watched as Emma's face morphed into Regina's and then back again and then would fold into a sort of amalgamation of both. "Emma! Oh my God! What do I do?" Snow was screaming to be heard over the noise.

 **The** _door! Dest_ **roy the D** _oooooor!_ Her daughter was in pain. She would stop her daughter's suffering. She would save Emma. That was the only thought in her mind as she rose to her feet and ran to the door.

Fiona saw Snow moving and wasted a moment to use her magic to grab Snow with

branches from the tree lifting her off the ground. But in doing so she opened her defenses up for a blast of magic from Rumple that hit her in the shoulder destroying the dress ornamentation and revealing blackened and blistering skin underneath. The Black Fairy screamed in pain and the treehouse shook.

"Give me Belle's heart!" Rumple screamed to his mother. Fiona flung him back with her magic and used her magic to rip boards free from the walls. The Boards exploded into a million tiny wooden needles that she transformed to steel. "Insolent boy!" she screeched as the steel spears flew to Rumple and pierced his skin and flew out his back.

 _Regina. I can't hold on any longer. My strength is almost gone._

 **Emma, are you there. I can't hear you. I feel so weak.**

 _I'm sorry we waited this long to find each other. We wasted so much time._

 **Emma I want to thank you for loving me. For so long I thought that I was unworthy of love. You showed me that I could be loved and love someone fully with all of my being. I hope you can hear me.**

 _Regina I love you so much. I wish you could hear me. Maybe you're already gone. I wanted to give you your happy ending. I want you to know that you are my happy ending. Knowing you love me is enough for me._

 **I wish you could hear me. I love you forever Emma. I love you. I love you. I love**

 _Regina I love you so much. So much. Regina. Regina._

A plume of purple smoke appeared in the room. The Evil Queen and Robin Hood looked around and took in the chaotic scene. "Robin! Help Emma! I'll free Snow White." Robin raced over to Emma who was lying stiff as stone on the wooden floor. He looked as her facial features began to fade slowly away. He tried shaking her awake but to no avail.

The Queen used her magic to free Snow. "What's going on?" The Queen asked her.

"We have to destroy the door! It's killing my daughter!" The Queen nodded in agreement and along with Snow they advanced on the door. Fiona looked up from her ruined shoulder and saw the two women going to the door. She aimed a bolt of lightning at the two women. Robin saw what was about to happen and instantly fired an arrow as he yelled a warning to the two.

The Queen turned. At that moment the arrow pierced Fiona's burned shoulder lodging inside it. With a wail of agony her aim was thrown off. The bolt raced directly to Snow but the Queen tackled her and took the brunt of the bolt in her back. "Regina!" Robin screamed as the Queen fell to the ground.

Rumple struggled to his feet as blood poured from a hundred different wounds. He limped towards Snow and the Queen. Blood trailed behind him as he limped forward. Robin knelt by Regina and lifted her. "Regina! Are you alright?" She tried to struggle to her feet but wobbled a little. "I'm fine Robin." she lied.

Fiona broke the arrow off in her shoulder and threw the shaft to the ground. Anger radiated from her like the Sun. "I'll kill you all!" She fired a massive bolt of black energy at the group. The Queen lifted her hand quickly with a pained expression and threw a shield up to protect them all. However the energy continued to come at them, unrelenting it hit the shield continually. The strain showed immediately on the face of the Queen. She groaned in pain but kept the shield up.

Robin saw she was in pain. "Regina, you're hurt!" She smiled up at him. "I'm fine. It's just a scratch." Blood began to trickle out of her nose.

"You're dying." Rumple managed to say through the pain he felt. "So are you." She smirked at him. Robin shook his head at her. "No my love. You're not going to die here. We're going to grow old together."

A tear spilled from her dark eyes and rolled down her cheek. "Yes we will my dear sweet soulmate."

"We have to destroy the door!" Snow yelled. Rumple reached into his tattered suit jacket and pulled out the blade of The Dark One. "You will. With this." he whispered as he began to pale.

He handed it to her. "But first take this and give it to Belle." He plunged his hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. It was nearly completely black except for two pinholes of light in the center.

"What are you doing?" Snow was confused as he handed her the heart.

"Tell her that at the end I was not afraid." He smiled weakly as he slid slowly to the floor.

"Regina! You have to stop this! It's killing you!" Robin pleaded. "If I drop this shield then we all die!" she looked at him with pleading eyes. "I won't let you die!" he said. "I don't think you have any say about this dear." her eyes watered.

Snow shoved the blade into the door. It began to crack and shake. Snow tried to remove the dagger but it wouldn't come free.

 _r...re..regina?_

 **emma.**

 _I can hear you._ **My love I hear you too!** _Are we dead?_ **I don't think so. In fact I'm beginning to feel stronger.** _You're right! Something's happening!_

Emma's face slowly took shape again. Beside her another form began to fade into existence. Regina slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head and saw Emma next to her beginning to stir. "Emma." she whispered in a hoarse voice.

The Queen turned to Robin and the other's and spoke with a weak voice. "The shield is about to collapse. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry." Snow said with a smile. "You've made a habit out of saving my life." The Queen smiled weakly at her. She looked to Robin and their eyes met.

Fiona smiled as she felt the Queen's shield beginning to weaken. In a few moments she would destroy them all, even her ungrateful son. Then she was hit in her side by something that burned and felt like a hammer. Her magic bolt stopped and she turned in the direction it came from.

Emma stood with her gun trained on Fiona and the barrel smoking. Regina stood beside her with the magical aura glowing from her hands. "No!" Fiona growled. "Yes bitch!" Regina yelled as she fired a bolt into the bullet wound causing the Black Fairy to scream in agony. Then an arrow whistled through the air and struck her in the back. Reflexively she fired a bolt behind her hitting Robin in the temple sending him to the floor.

Then everything seemed to happened at once. In a black plume of smoke Fiona vanished. The door exploded in a flash of light sending a wave of energy through the treehouse. The dagger of The Dark One broke in two and fell to the floor. It's black energy rose like a cloud and hovered above them all. Rumplestiltskin, Mr. Gold, looked at the black cloud, chuckled and then closed his eyes. The cloud moved away from his corpse and hovered over The Queen. She lay on the ground with her fingers entwined with Robin Hood's. Both lovers had smiles on their faces. The cloud then drifted over to Regina and Emma.

The two of them saw it coming and simultaneously they both reached for the other's hand and held on tight. The black cloud seemed to hesitate in the air and then split in two. The dark energy poured into the two women. They stood there and looked at each other.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked with wide eyes.

"I"m fine my dear. How are you?" Regina placed her hand on Emma's shoulder. "'Mom!" Emma exclaimed and pulled Regina with her to where her mother's body was lying.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 _ **Going home**_

Neverland

Emma had tears in her eyes as she knelt by her mother's body. Regina bent behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her as she looked on while her lover turned Mary Margaret over. Snow White groaned as she was turned over and Emma spun her head to face Regina with a huge smile on her face. "She's alive!" was all she could say while her voice trembled. The mayor hugged the sheriff's shoulders tenderly and her mouth broke into a smile as she heard that the mother of her true love had survived.

Looking over her mother's body Emma's smile faded as she took in the injuries that were visible. Numerous lacerations were present on Snow White's exposed pale skin. Her clothes were ripped all over from the shrapnel that flew through the air after the door exploded. The tears in the clothing were stained red with blood identifying cuts that were present underneath her clothing.

But the injury that caused Emma's breath to hitch in her throat was on the legendary fair face of Snow White. Almost half of the pale white skin on her mother's face had been burned away and turned into a blistering and cracked black mass. Snow's left eye had been ruined by fire and was swollen and dripped a thick milky liquid. Her hair had burned away on that left side and showed a scalp blackened by burns and showed bone in some places.

Both Emma and Regina wept quietly for the former princess. Emma wept for the woman who had befriended her when she first arrived in Storybrook and later loved her as her mother. Regina did not see the burned and mangled face of her enemy, instead she saw the precious young girl she had saved from the runaway horse on that fateful day.

As Emma continued to weep, Regina looked around the interior of the wrecked treehouse and viewed the carnage in horror. Her eyes fell on the body of Rumpelstiltskin, he was in a sitting position with his back propped up against the wooden wall where he died. She walked over to her former teacher and adversary and knelt in front of him. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. Trickles of blood left thin trails where his numerous pinhole wounds covered his body. Regina was struck by the slightly curved lips of the former imp that looked suspiciously like a grin. She hoped in death that he had finally found his peace.

At last she turned to the two rescuers that had sacrificed themselves to save Emma and herself. Lying together in death they looked almost peaceful. A lump formed in Regina's throat as she saw the lovers holding hands in death. She saw the face of the man who looked exactly like the man she once loved and had now died twice trying to save his queen. Then she turned her attention to the woman who was at one time her darker self. She was no longer the evil one that had been created by Jekyll's serum. She had redeemed herself twice over now and had given her heart over to love instead of hate. Regina could see the love on her twin's face and it made her bring her hand to her mouth and cry. Emma had come to stand behind her and placed a hand softly on her shoulder. Regina turned and fell into Emma's arms and cried into her lover's shoulder. Emma held the back of Regina's head in one hand as her other hand rubbed circles on her back in comfort. Heavy sobs shook the mayor's body and broke the sheriff's heart.

After a time Regina pulled back a little and looked into Emma's green eyes with her puffy and red brown ones. "They died in love together." was all Emma could offer in words of comfort, her own voice cracking. Regina simply nodded with an anguished look on her face.

"Let's go home please." Regina whispered to Emma. Emma kissed Regina lightly on the forehead as the two let go of their embrace. Regina waved her hand and Snow's body was lifted gently into the air and followed them down the rope and out of the treehouse. They came to the clearing below like that and stopped by Charming who was still unconscious lying on the ground. Emma heard a baby crying and moved quickly to the magic cocoons that were now on the ground as well. She looked in them and saw her little baby brother Neil was the one crying and she lifted him up to carry him and calm him down. She checked the other two and found Robyn asleep, and Gideon awake but just looking around peacefully.

"Regina, the babies are ok." Emma announced to her. Regina nodded and the two cocoons lifted by magic and floated over to where Snow's body was hovering. Regina had moved over to where Belle was and saw that she too was unconscious. Soon she joined Charming and the rest in the floating caravan.

"Emma." Regina's voice sounded concerned and Emma looked at her as she bounced Neil trying to calm him. "I can feel the magic in me. It is stronger than I have ever felt before, it's immensely powerful." "Yeah, I can feel something too. And that's saying something because I don't have a connection to magic like you do. It feels like I can do anything. Do you think that has anything to do with the Dark One's magic." Emma almost said Gold's magic but caught herself. It was too soon.

Regina simply nodded. "Do you see Hook and Mila anywhere?" she asked. "No,let's check by the ship". When they got there they stared in silence at the still burning ship. It was completely engulfed in the inferno and had begun to slowly sink into the water. Emma teared up and Regina felt a lump grow in her throat. "Killian." Emma whispered. Regina put an arm around Emma's waist as they looked at the ship burning.

Emma felt the magic swelling inside her. A wind blew quickly and snuffed out the flames on the ship. Then The Jolly Roger slowly rose out of the water until it floated above it. They could see the bodies of Killian and Mila together on the deck, a few feet away they saw Pan's corpse as well.

Slowly the ship sailed through the air until it hovered above the deep part of the water. There it lowered slowly until it vanished under the water. "Goodbye Captain Jones." Regina said quietly as they looked on. Tears streaked down Emma's face. A huge purple cloud of smoke engulfed everyone and they vanished.

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Zelena paced worriedly in the large living room of the mansion. Henry sat on the couch, he couldn't see her but he heard her boots clicking back and forth along the marbled floor. "Aunt Zelena, they'll be fine. You'll see." Her pacing was driving him crazy. "It's been too long." Zelena stopped pacing but now began to wring her hands slowly. "Something awful has happened, I can feel it."

Just then purple smoke filled the room and then dissipated to reveal the others. "Moms? Is that you?" Henry asked from the couch. Regina rushed over to him and hugged him tightly. "Yes Henry. We're ok." Emma came over and sat next to him and placed an arm around them both as she tried to hold onto her brother as well. "Robyn!" Zelena ran over and plucked the sleeping girl out of the air and held her daughter. She cried as she rocked her back and forth kissing her cheek. The movement woke the baby and she began to cry. "Oh my sweet darling you're safe. Mommy's here." Zelena smiled through her tears.

Henry tried to shrug off the family hug that he was sandwiched between. "What about the other's where are they?" Emma and Regina looked at each other. Zelena looked at the others for the first time and the horror of their injuries reflected in the expression on her face. "They're here kid." Emma tried to get out but her voice shook a little. "But they're hurt."

Henry's brows knit together in concern. "How hurt are they?"

"Very hurt Henry." Regina said softly "We need to get them to the hospital." Zelena looked around. "What about the others?" The words came out before she could think about what they meant. She looked at her sister with an apologetic look. "Other's?" Henry asked "Who's not here?"

Regina looked down at her boots. "Henry, it was a truly terrible fight." She began slowly. Emma looked at her with a look of support, trying to silently give her lover strength. Regina cleared her throat. "Killian and Mila, and Rumplestiltskin they.." she struggled to continue. "They're dead?" Henry exclaimed in shock.

"They died like heroes kid." Emma told him knowing that it would comfort him a little to know that. Regina mouthed 'thank you' to her. Henry nodded grimly as tears fell from his eyes. Zelena looked on and shared in their grief. She hadn't known them as long but she felt it too for her sister.

"We need to get everyone to the hospital." Emma said quietly. "Yes." Regina responded. "They have injuries that need to be tended to." Emma stood with Neil. "We should get the babies looked at too. We don't know if The Black Fairy did anything to them." Zelena looked frightened but nodded in agreement.

Emma stood with Neil in her arms and looked down at her son and Regina. "I'll transport them over and get them all checked in and settled. You stay and help Henry get to bed." Regina agreed but Henry protested. "I'm 17 ma!" Henry jumped up from his seat. "I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need to be tucked in!". Emma put her free hand on his shoulder. "I know that kid." She gave him a lopsided smile. She could see the man he was growing into in his face. "But you can't see and your mother and I are very tired. When I get back Regina and I will probably pass out. You just try and get some sleep. I know you probably want to talk about what happened, but believe me kid your mother and I aren't ready for that. We need to rest. We can talk in the morning. Please."

Henry seemed to accept it and nodded. "Thanks kid." Emma turned to Zelena. "You're coming too right?" "Yes of course." she answered. Emma glanced at her lover and their eyes met. Then gray smoke enveloped them and they transported away.

"Let's go upstairs Henry." Regina said getting up from the sofa. "I can find my room ok mom." Henry seemed to bristle a little. She placed her arm in his. "I know you can." she smiled softly at her young man "But your mother is very tired and could use some help from her son." He smiled softly at her "Sure mom."

The Fairy Vault

Fiona appeared inside the darkened vault. She collapsed on the floor and cried out from her wounds. Dark blood poured from her side from the gunshot wound and spilled onto the floor. Her shoulder bled as well from the arrow wound. The physical pain should have been tremendous. Fiona hardly felt it however over her fury. They had ruined everything. They destroyed her family. She would get her revenge. She was going to make The Queen and The Savior pay dearly.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

 _ **Heart to heart**_

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Nearly two hours later Emma materialized back in Regina's living room. The lights were out and the house was dark. For a moment Emma marveled at her magic and how easy it was to get back. She had been The Dark One before and felt it's power. This time, however, it was a completely different feeling. The voices were gone, the voices of the past Dark Ones weren't whispering in her ears now. She didn't feel the darkness or the evil pulsating inside her very being. The magic was there but without any of the unpleasant side effects, she thought to herself. She almost chuckled to herself until she remembered the tragedies they had just endured a few hours ago.

Slowly she walked up the stairs to Regina's bedroom. Before turning the knob she glanced at Henry's door and saw the light shining out from underneath. She walked quietly over to his door and pressed her ear against it. She heard his music playing softly behind the door. Emma smiled, at least the kid is alright, she thought. Turning around she quietly entered Regina's bedroom.

It was dark inside but Emma saw the mayor's beautiful figure underneath the sheets. Emma shook off her red jacket and let it fall to the floor. She then kicked off her boots and left them in the middle of the floor. She smiled knowing that it would make Regina crazy to see the mess she was making. Slipping out of her jeans she then sat on the bed and removed her top leaving only her bra and panties. Regina let out a low moan when she felt the bed dip from Emma sitting.

"Emma?" Regina asked sleepily. "Yeah, it's me. Go back to sleep." Regina instead turned over on her side to face her. "How'd it go at the hospital?" she asked. Emma sighed as she slid her long legs under the covers and turned to face her lover. Emma could see tiny lights dancing in Regina's chocolate eyes even in the dark bedroom. "They're all checked in. The babies are fine and Zelena went home with Robyn. I left Neil there along with Gideon. I could have taken Neil with me but I know how exhausted I feel and I know you probably feel the same. We couldn't take care of a baby tonight if our lives depended on it." Regina frowned a little at Emma's attempt at humor. Emma looked chagrined. "Sorry. I'm so tired I didn't realize.." Regina put her finger softly onto Emma's lips. She gave the blonde a small smile. "It's ok. I know, I'm tired too."

Emma gave Regina's finger a tiny kiss. Regina moved her fingers and began to trace Emma's lips with them. "This is the first time we've touched." Emma whispered. "In the real world, or it not being in the dream world, like this. You know what I mean." Regina laughed softly and whispered "I know what you mean."

Emma hummed and closed her eyes as Regina began to caress her cheeks. "You are so beautiful Emma Swan." Emma opened her eyes and looked into Regina's sleepily. "And you feel so good Regina Mills." She moved in and placed a soft kiss on the mayor's lips. "I'm not.." Regina began, her face wore an apologetic look. Emma smiled in understanding. "I know. I'm tired too."

Regina looked relieved. "I'm sorry. But with all that has happened tonight I just can't." "You're right, it wouldn't feel right even if we did have the energy." Emma agreed.

"Does it feel strange being together like this?" Regina asked. "No, you would think so, but we've shared so much that this feels like the most natural thing in the world." Emma replied. "When I look at you Regina, I feel so happy, so complete, so safe." Regina blushed slightly at those words. "I feel something that I've never felt before in my entire life. I feel like I'm home." a tear slide out of Emma's eye and fell onto the pillow. Regina was so moved that she shed a tear as well. "This is your home Emma." Regina smiled. "Forever." Emma scrunched her eyebrows. "You asking me to move in?" Regina giggled. "Well yes you idiot, but that's not entirely what I meant. I meant with me. You will always be home with me. You will always be in my heart, my love."

It was Emma's turn to blush now. "You talk so purdy!" Emma said in an exaggerated hillbilly accent. Regina giggled again and playfully punched Emma on the shoulder. "And you sheriff make me giggle, and I haven't giggled since I was a little girl."

"Well get used to it madam mayor. Because I plan on doing that for the rest of our lives." Regina's face lit up as she smiled broadly. "Good night my queen." "And to you my brave knight." They kissed softly and fell asleep cuddled together.

Neverland

"Found the book." Emma announced to Regina. They were in the treehouse going through the wreckage in the early morning. Leroy and his brothers had come with them to retrieve the bodies. It was all done in grim silence, the citizens of Storybrook had been rocked by the news of the deaths. The shock and grief of the aftermath of the battle and The Black Fairy's viciousness was something that the residents hadn't felt before. Fear gripped the town. Fear of The Black Fairy's return. Fear of her revenge.

Emma lifted the heavy tome and paged through it again. It still looked like gibberish to her. Regina had said that they needed to retrieve it before Fiona returned but without Belle to translate it Emma didn't see the point. Belle was still in a coma and according to Whale it was unlikely that she would ever awaken. Although she had doubted the benefit of getting the book, Emma agreed to come because she wanted to make her lover happy. Lover? Girlfriend?

"Hey Regina?" Emma asked. "What are we?" Regina continued looking through a pile of wood she was looking through. "What do you mean dear?" Emma put the book under her arm and walked over to her. "Us. I know this isn't a convenient time but," Emma looked down and shuffled her boot toes on the floor. "Our relationship. Are we girlfriends? Lovers?"

Regina finally looked up at her. Emma was blushing and was holding the book in front of her like she was in high school asking her for a date. She found it absolutely adorable. Emma's big green eyes melted Regina's heart and she smiled. "Looking to put a label on us already Miss Swan?"

Emma returned the question with a smirk. "I mean, yeah I guess so. We've said I love you a ton of times to each other. In fact I've said it to you in the past couple days more than I have in my entire life." She rubbed the back of her neck with one of her hands. "So, I don't know. I just want to, I guess, make it official or something?" Emma was rocking back and forth on her heels now. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma's waist and pulled her into a passionate kiss. They pulled away and rested their foreheads together. "Emma, I love you and I am comfortable with whatever you want to call us dear. Lovers. Girlfriends. Maybe something more?" Regina's lips curled into a grin as she said the last part. Emma's eyes bugged out and she gulped. "You mean, maybe we will, you know, one day, soon I hope?" Emma was babbling. Regina put her finger on Emma's lip softly.

"Emma Swan, I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you. I want to wake up every morning to your beautiful face and I want to fall asleep every night in your strong arms." She squeezed Emma's toned bicep at the last part earning a chuckle from the blonde sheriff. "I want the mother of my son to grow old with me and play with our grandchildren together. Emma our relationship has not been traditional." Emma threw her head back and laughed. "That's for damn sure!" The brunette continued. "But our love is genuine and true. We've both shared the unique experience of feeling the other's love firsthand. No other lovers can say that they are absolutely certain of how much their partner loves them." She kissed Emma's lips again. "But we can. I love you and I know you love me."

"So, wanna get married?" Emma asked with a grin. Now it was Regina's turn to laugh. "Why sheriff, I do believe that has to be the most ineloquent proposal in history! But I would expect nothing less from the woman I adore. Yes, Emma, a thousand times yes I want to be your wife and I want you to be mine."

Emma's bright smile stretched from ear to ear. She kissed Regina with a force of passion that made the mayor moan into her mouth. The kiss seemed to stretch on forever until Regina's foot shifted and her heel nudged something. She pulled her lips from Emma's reluctantly, earning a groan of frustration from her. "What's this?" Regina said as she looked down. Underneath a plank on the floor she saw a glowing heart. "Is that Belle's heart?" Emma asked.

The brunette bent down to pick it up and held it in front of her between the two of them. "I don't think so. Look how dark it is." The heart was dark but there were light spots growing in the blackness. "I think this is Gold's heart." Regina said in surprise. "But it looks alive!" Emma had seen enough of the lifeless ones to know the difference. "How is that possible? Gold is dead!"

"I don't know dear." Regina looked at Emma, her brows knit in confusion.

Storybrook (hospital)

David stood outside his wife's hospital room, the door was closed. Inside the room they were finishing bandaging Mary Margaret. David was heartbroken over the injuries his wife had suffered. He looked down at his stump and thought he would have gladly given both his arms to spare Snow from this. The door to the room opened and the nurses told him he could go in. David entered to the dimly lit room. The doctors advised to limit bright lights because of the damage to her eyes. Snow turned to face her husband as he walked in.

Both of them traded looks of grief as they saw the other's injury. "Oh David."Snow's voice cracked as she looked at his ruined arm. David rushed over and kissed the exposed area of his wife's face. "Are Emma and Neil alright?" Snow whispered, it was difficult for her to speak with the damage to her lips. "They're both fine. I saw Neil, he's in the nursery now. Not a scratch on him. Emma's with Regina now. They're both ok." He squeezed her hand.

She let a tear roll down her cheek. "We can't protect her now." She whispered. He didn't reply. He just held her hand tight and locked eyes with her.

"Henry ok?" Emma asked Regina as they walked down the hospital corridor towards Belle's room. Regina put her phone back into her coat. "Zelena says that he's driving her up the wall with his questions and insistence that he be allowed to help us. But he's fine."

They were almost at Belle's door. "I'm glad we were able to use our magic to reinforce the protection spell around the mansion. I feel more confident that Fiona can't get in to hurt them."

Regina nodded in agreement as she opened Belle's door. They saw her lying there motionless and pale. It almost appeared that she was under a sleeping curse but they both knew better. "You sure this is going to work?" Emma asked Regina. She shook her head, "Emma, my entire knowledge of the way magic works has been turned upside down since The Black Fairy came back. I honestly have no idea."

Emma nodded. Regina pulled the heart from her purse and held it over Belle's chest. She noticed that the darkness had faded even more inside it. Her eyes flicked to Emma's to see if she saw it too. She had. Regina took a deep breath and plunged the heart into Belle's chest.

With a gasp Belle shot up from the bed. "Rumple!" She cried out and held her chest. She looked around with wide eyes at Regina and Emma. "Where's Gideon?! Where's Rumple?!" Emma placed a hand on Belle's shoulder. "Gideon's fine. He's here in the hospital nursery. He's ok Belle." she said in a reassuring tone. Belle seemed to calm down a little but still traded off between looking at the blonde and brunette. "What about Rumple?" she asked softly this time. Emma looked down unable to meet her eyes. Regina inhaled deeply before answering. "Belle, I'm so sorry." She crumbled into sobs and laid back on her bed. She moaned his name over and over between heavy, heartrending sobs.


	26. Chapter 26

_**Hard goodbyes**_

It was a beautiful clear afternoon without a cloud in the sky. The sun shone brightly in direct contrast to the mood of the people gathered in the cemetery. Emma thought the weather was a little disrespectful for the funeral taking place. It had been three days since everyone had been discharged from the hospital and returned home. Now they were all assembled together again to say goodbye to friends.

Earlier they had gathered to see the monument that had been erected on the docks for Hook and Mila. Their bodies remained in the water, something Emma was sure that a sailor like Killian Jones would be grateful for. She was a widow now, she supposed. Their marriage had been a mistake, but Emma was glad that at least for awhile Killian had been reunited with his one true love. It was bittersweet knowing that they had spent so much of their lives apart and enjoyed just a short time together. Emma had squeezed Regina's hand at that thought and Regina seemed to know what Emma was thinking at that moment. They wouldn't end up that way, the two of them would spend many years of happiness together. Emma would make sure of it.

Later Regina needed to lean on Emma as the two caskets for The Queen and Robin Hood were lowered into the ground. They had been two people who technically had no right to exist. One had been created by a serum and the other by a wish. But the love they shared was real and burned bright even if only for a brief time. Emma wondered why Regina still survived when The Queen had died because Hyde had died along with Jekyll. She chalked it up to what Regina had said about the rules of magic being tossed out the window. Whatever the reason, Emma was overjoyed that Regina was still alive. But that feeling made her feel a little guilty as she looked at the two caskets. But she knew that her guilt was nothing compared to what Regina felt. Their very existence came about because of Regina, and now she felt that she was responsible for their deaths. Emma knew that it would take a long time to heal from this, but Emma would be there for her.

Presently they all stood over the grave of the former Dark One, , Rumpelstiltskin. Sometime ally, most often an adversary, mentor and teacher, manipulator and traitor, coward and villain, and later courageous hero. He had been all those things to so many of those gathered at his grave.

His life had been mostly a tragic one, some tragedies were visited on him by fate but most were of his own making. His fear and cowardice had cost him a wife. His lust for power had cost him a son. But the love of a woman had changed him and given him another son. Belle's love and belief in his own goodness had redeemed the beast.

Emma glanced at Belle and marvelled at how well she was holding up. Belle was holding Gideon tightly to her but her face was a mask that held no emotion. It was only her eyes that betrayed her because tears ran freely from them and dropped to the grass underfoot. Regina was feeling conflicted over Rumplestiltskin's death. If she was honest with herself, he had probably been the most influential person of her entire adult life. She had learned magic from the man, been manipulated into casting the Dark Curse, and had helped set her on the path to become The Evil Queen. But he had also given her Henry, and indirectly brought Emma Swan into her life. If she weighed it all together she could forgive the manipulations because of the love she had gained because of his interference in her life. She owed him and she would give him justice.

As the funerals ended the mourners began to disperse. Belle made a beeline to Emma and Regina. Emma was surprised, she had kept a respectable distance to Belle figuring that she wanted to be alone with her grief.

"How are you Belle?" Regina asked with concern in her voice. "Fine." was what she said but

Emma saw her lip quiver. "I need to talk to the two of you tomorrow. It's very urgent."

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"The book." Belle said looking at the two of them. "I translated it and was going to tell you what I found out before… she got to me." Belle couldn't bring herself to name Rumple's murderer.

"The information I found is very important. It will change everything."

The tone of Belle's voice made Emma gulp reflexively. "Come by our place first thing tomorrow morning." Regina told her. Emma could feel that Regina was just as concerned as she was.

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Emma watched as Regina undressed as she sat on the edge of the bed. Regina could feel the uneasiness in her lover. "What's wrong Emma?" she turned to face her. Emma looked deep into those chocolate brown eyes that she treasured so much. "I'm scared Regina." her voice was soft.

Regina went over and sat down next to her and put Emma's hand in her lap and held it. "What are you scared of dear?" Emma had tears in her eyes and looked down to the carpet under her bare feet. "Losing you." Regina put her head on Emma's shoulder. "You're not going to lose me dear." Emma shook her head. "How do you know Regina? She is so powerful. We have never faced anything like this before. You might die." Emma gazed right at Regina. "I can't live without you."

 **I will always be with you Emma.** Emma's eyebrows went up. _Are you still in my head?!_ Regina smiled. **Yes. I started to realize I was feeling your emotions at the funeral. As I started to concentrate more I could start to hear your thoughts.** _When were you going to tell me?_ Regina winked at her. **I was going to surprise you. Here.** She patted the bed softly with her hand. Emma snickered. _You are so bad madam mayor!_ **Well, they used to call me The Evil Queen.** _Well, if anybody calls you that now I'm going to kick their ass!_ Regina leaned forward and started to place tiny kisses on Emma's lips. **That's why you're my white knight. My protector. My hero.**

 _I'll protect you forever my queen._

Emma slipped her tongue between Regina's lips eliciting a moan from the queen. She slowly lowered Regina down until she was lying on her back on the bed with her legs still hanging over the side. She rolled on top of Regina and slipped her thigh in between her legs. _My, my. I can feel your heat through my pant leg Regina._ **That's because your kisses get me so very hot.** Emma smiled on Regina's soft lips and began to kiss down her neckline. _I could spend a week kissing every inch of your body and never get enough of you._ **After this is all over I'm going to hold you to that, my love.** Regina moaned as Emma began to kiss her cleavage. Emma took her time and kissed the top of the tan firm breasts of her lover. At the same time she slowly moved her thigh up and down Regina's hot core. **Oh my God Emma! You are driving me crazy!** _Oh, I haven't even begun your majesty._ Regina chuckled in a deep husky voice that Emma found incredibly sexy. While still applying slow steady friction with her thigh, she pulled down one cup of Regina's bra exposing an already stiff nipple. She licked it slowly, moaning as she did so. _Your nipple is perfect._ **Why thank you, I have two you know.** Emma bit the tip lightly in a playful manner causing Regina to gasp and slap Emma's shoulder playfully. **Behave.** Emma sucked on the nipple and Regina held onto Emma's shoulder with her fingernails. Emma turned her attention to the other breast and gave that one the same treatment. Emma moved her thigh and slipped her hand down to Regina's lace panties. _What's this? Looks like someone is practically soaking!_ "Emmmaaaa." Regina moaned as Emma's hand began to caress the top of her undergarment.

 **You're teasing me Miss Swan and it's not fair.** Emma grinned and slid her body off the bed and knelt in between Regina's legs. She put her hands on Regina's bare feet and slowly slid her hands up her smooth shapely legs and rested them on her hips. _Well, maybe I should start being fair then. Do you want me to do that Regina?_ Emma pulled the the panties down and off revealing her treasure. "Yes, yes, yes, yes." Regina was repeating softly. Emma started to kiss the inner thighs of her lover, alternating kisses between the right and left leg. **Emma please!** _Please what?_ **I need you!** Emma grinned, she loved that she could drive her crazy like this. _But what do you need Regina? Tell me what you want me to do._ "Damn it Swan! Put your mouth on me now!" Regina screamed. Emma fell back on her ass laughing. "Oh my God Regina! You did not just yell that!" Emma was holding her sides as she tried to fight back the laughter. Regina propped herself up on her elbows and scowled down at Emma. "Yes I did Miss Swan!" Regina said through her teeth. "I told you to stop teasing me! I need you to start eating me out now or I will go crazy! Now get to it!"

Emma squeezed her eyes shut and couldn't keep herself seated as she rolled on the floor laughing.

Regina began to giggle. _Oh my God Regina! You're killing me!_ **Keep laughing and I will!** But Regina was now laughing too. Emma wiped the tears from her eyes and got back on her knees. She put her hands on Regina's thighs and moved in close while keeping her eyes locked with the brunette. _I love you._ **I love you too.** Then Regina's face adopted her best regal look. **Now Miss Swan, you** _ **will**_ **do your duty.** Emma smiled. _Yes my queen._ Then she leaned in and got to work.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

 _ **A book of revelations**_

Storybrook (Regina's Mansion)

Regina placed the tray down on the coffee table. "Tea, anyone?" she asked formally. Emma smiled into her coffee mug. She loved Regina's voice when she adopted her regal tone. It sounded so sexy to her but now was not the time. **Oh Miss Swan, what are you doing?** _That 'Queen' voice gets me so hot!_ **I'll keep that in mind for later, but for now just concentrate.** Regina shot a sly wink to Emma. _Yes your majesty._

Belle, Tink, and Henry were seated on the sofa. Regina poured tea for both Belle and Tink. Her poor son had been making due with a sports bottle of water that he could hold between his mangled hands and suck on the straw. Regina poured herself a cup and sat down in a love seat opposite them with Emma.

After taking a quick sip Belle placed the cup down and picked up Blue's Book. Belle had invited Tinkerbell along too because she felt that the former fairy should hear what she had to say.

Belle cleared her throat and began. "Inside this book is the history of magic." she said with a tone that she hoped let the others know how serious this was. Regina raised an eyebrow while Tink threw up her hands. "Whoa, what the hell was Blue doing with this?" Belle turned to Tink "You'll see."

"In the beginning there wasn't 'dark' magic or 'light' magic, there was just magic. This unified magic then created all the different realms, an infinite amount of worlds. Then an event occurred that was so catastrophic that it caused magic itself to rip in two." Henry spoke up. "What was the event?" Belle turned to him. "The book doesn't say. It's frustrating actually. The book refers to the event time after time as if the reader already knows what the event is but doesn't go into detail." Belle frowns in frustration. "It's almost as if the author of the book is either ashamed to talk about it."

"Or afraid." Emma piped in. "Yes" Belle says "I thought that too at first, but as I read on I got the feeling that the event was something that was not an accident. That it was planned. The way it's referred to is almost apologetic in some places." Regina turned to Tinkerbell. "Did Blue ever say anything about this to the fairies?" Tinkerbell shook her head. "No, sometimes a curious fairy would ask about where magic came from or something and Blue would get vague and not give a real answer." Tinkerbell sniffed. "I always knew she was hiding something."

"After this event there was now light magic and dark magic." Belle continued to explain. "Here's where it gets interesting. Both sides had two guardians, one light one dark. But again the book is vague here, it doesn't explain if the guardians were there before the event happened or if they were created by the event. And it's at this point that The Author is mentioned for the first time."

Henry sat up at the mention of the author. "It seems that The Author is either above or at an equal level with the light and dark. He works independently or with one side or the other at different times, never seeming to have a particular allegiance with either and never doing their bidding."

 _I hope you're paying attention because I'm starting to zone out._ **Emma! Really.** _I'm sorry, but it sounds like I'm in school again._ **I take it you weren't a very good student.** _I spent most of my time napping in class. The only two things I liked about school was lunch and gym._ **Of course. Well don't you dare nod off now. I would be absolutely mortified if you did.** _Hey, I didn't get much sleep last night. Someone kept me up if you recall._ Regina covered her sudden blush by taking a sip of her tea, but she did cross her legs at the mention of their nighttime activities. **Emma, I am trying to pay attention!** _Okay okay._ Emma smirked and tried to focus on what Belle was saying.

"So who were the guardians?" Henry asked. "The guardian of light was the Sorcerer and the guardian of the dark was a demon that the book does not name. But here's the bombshell, both guardians created assistants to work for them. The Dark One of course was the demon's assistant but the Sorcerer created as his assistant, The Blue Fairy."

They all sat in silence trying to absorb what Belle just told them. _Holy shit!_ **That sneaky little bitch.** Tinkerbell closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, betraying the fact that her head was spinning from the news. "The light and the dark hated each other and were constantly at odds. But they were both equally balanced so neither side could destroy the other." Belle continued. "But The Author had different plans. It seems that The Author disliked the split. So that means either he wasn't the cause or he was the cause and simply got bored. The book doesn't say." **It seems to me the book doesn't say a lot of things.** Emma nodded.

"The Author decided he would fix things by writing a prophecy. _The prophecy._ " Belle explained. "The one about the savior." Henry said as a statement and not as a question. "Partly, Henry. But there was more to the prophecy. Much more." Tinkerbell frowned. "The prophecy that The Author wrote goes like this, one day there would be agents on both sides that would work together to reunite the two halves of magic. The author wrote the Dark Curse and gave it to the demon. He then manipulated events so that the Dark One would have to get someone to cast the curse. That person would be the unwitting first agent of The Author."

"Regina." Emma said so softly that the others almost didn't hear her. The brunette looked at the blonde as she herself tried to make sense of the news. Everything that happened in her life was always because someone else was pulling the strings. She had assumed that the culprits had been her mother and Rumplestiltskin. Now she was being told that her destiny had been mapped out by some author long ago. It was infuriating. She never had a chance. She never had any say in her life. _I'm sorry Regina._ **All my 'choices'. Everything I ever did, it wasn't my decision! I was just some pawn moved along a chessboard.** _I know._ Emma grabbed Regina's hand and held it. Regina looked down at it and smiled. **Thank you.**

"To counter this the author manipulated the Sorcerer into creating a savior. The savior had to be born of true love to be powerful enough to wield enough light magic to do the job."

"The Dark Curse required the savior to be sent into the land without magic to escape its effects." Regina began. "The Sorcerer obviously knew about this. Did Blue?" Belle nodded slowly. "She knew before Snow and Charming ever met."

"Son of a bitch!" Emma leaped up from her seat and began to pace angrily, her hands balled into fists so tight her knuckles showed white. She looked like she wanted to hit something. **Emma calm down.** "I won't calm down Regina! She played us! She knew!" Emma screamed. Henry's brows knit in confusion. "Can you guys still talk to each other telepathically?" "Yes Henry" Regina said absently, concentrating her attention on her upset lover. "Cool." Henry smiled.

"All this time, Blue kept this a secret?" Tink couldn't believe it. Belle nodded. "But what no one knew was that The Author had a plan within the plan. The demon and the Sorcerer thought that the breaking of the curse was just one of the many battles that they fought against each other. But it was actually the first step into bringing the two agents together." Emma stopped pacing and Regina leaned forward. "What?" Regina asked with steel in her voice.

Belle swallowed hard before starting. "Rumple's cowardice, him becoming The Dark One, abandoning his son, Baelfire coming to this realm, meeting Emma, having Henry, Regina adopting Henry linking the two of you together. All manipulations of The Author to get the two of you together." Emma and Regina gazed at each other. _We were supposed to be together? This Author wrote our relationship?_ **I don't know what to say. This is… Emma I don't know what this is.**

"So my moms were always meant to be together?" Henry asked. "Yes." Belle smiled, at least there was that bit of good news she thought. "Once the two of you got together you would unite both the light and the dark halves of magic together."

Emma grabbed her coat and started to leave. Regina stood up. **Emma stop!** _I gotta get out of here Regina._ **Emma! Do not run from this!** _Regina._ A tear ran down Regina's cheek. **Emma you have been running all your life. Please don't run now. I need you here with me.** Emma turned and saw the pleading look in her lover's eye. She dropped her coat on the floor and ran to Regina and held her tight. _I'm sorry, Regina. I promised you I would never leave you. I almost forgot that, thank you for reminding me._ **I love you Emma.** _I love you too Regina. No matter what some dumb book says._

Belle and Tink watched the whole thing in silence with puzzled looks on their faces. "Guys, what just happened?" Henry asked. Emma smiled at her son. "Nothing kid. Go on Belle."


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: We're almost to the end guys. This one is a little long and a little sad but the action is coming next! Thanks for the comments and follows!**

Chapter 28

 _ **You say goodbye and I say hello**_

Belle and the others knew that something had gone on between the two that the rest weren't privy to. Obviously it was something personal and private but Regina and Emma seemed to have resolved it so Belle cleared her throat and continued on. "The book tells us that there will be a final battle between the demon and his ally, who I assume is The Black Fairy" Belle said "against the savior and the redeemed one." Belle pointed to Regina at that point. "Obviously you Regina."

Emma looked at her lover who took the news without a reaction. "So how does the battle end? Do we win?" Emma asked.

Belle closed the book and sat back on the couch exhaling. "The book doesn't say who wins. But it does tell what will happen if either side does win. If the forces of the light side win, magic will be reunified and order will come to the realms."

"Just order. Not peace?" Henry asked. At that moment Regina was extremely proud of her smart son. Everyone else had missed it but Henry had picked up on the wording. Belle smiled, "Right you are Henry. The victory doesn't promise peace, just order. While if the demon wins then magic will be fractured forever and chaos will reign forever."

They sat in silence for a while and absorbed it all. Finally Emma broke the silence. "Guess we better win then." Her attempt at humor fell flat. Regina looked at Emma with a smirk and shook her head. _What? Just trying to lighten the mood._ Regina rolled her eyes.

Tinkerbell spoke up. "If Emma and Regina were supposed to be together, what happened with the pixie dust and Robin Hood?" Regina's eyebrow went up and Emma looked over to her with a frown. **I can feel the jealousy and sadness my love. I love you and only you Emma, no matter what any pixie dust said.** Emma blushed and looked down at her boots.

"Yes, well about that." Belle began and looked uncomfortable. "There was a note written in the margin near the part that talks about Emma and Regina being meant for each other. It said 'stupid girl almost ruined everything'." Tinkerbell scowled and Belle looked embarrassed. "When you stole the pixie dust Blue was worried what would happen. Luckily for her you misinterpreted the tattoo."

"What?!" Tink, Emma and Regina all said in unison. "You see, Regina's soulmate is supposed to have a tattoo of a lyon flower." Emma quickly looked at the flower tattoo on her wrist. "But a lyon flower has six petals, Emma's has only five." Regina said in a questioning tone. Emma looked at her. **What? I do a lot of gardening.** "It was supposed to have six." Emma said quietly.

They all turned to her. "I got it at this really crappy tattoo place." she whispered "I saw the flower with the six petals and was drawn to it. But the guy was drunk off his ass and instead of the flower I pointed out he scratched out this thing." She showed everyone her tattoo. "I was so mad I didn't even get it colored, I just punched the drunk in his face and left without paying."

Tink sat back on the couch. "So, the pixie dust got, I don't know, confused?" Belle nodded to her. "So I got fired for a mistake?" Belle nodded again. Tink huffed in frustration. "Well, that sounds about right. Story of my life."

Regina turned to Emma with tears in her eyes. **You are my true love** _ **and**_ **soulmate!** _What can I say? True love, soulmate, and savior. I'm a triple threat!_ Emma smiled and reached for Regina's hand. Regina grasped it in her's and squeezed as a tear of joy slid down her cheek.

"So why are the realms merging?" Henry asked bringing them all back on topic. "The realms

are coming together so that the demon can recreate creation. Once the merging completes all the realms will be destroyed." The weight of Belle's statement hung in the air. "Guess we better make sure that doesn't happen then." Emma summed up.

"That's everything then." Belle said. "That's all the book says."

Nowhere

She was almost ready. Her wounds were nearly healed. Soon she would kill them both. The anger she felt inside burned as hot as the depths of hell. Her hatred for them was almost dizzying. They had destroyed her family. They had corrupted her son so much so that he had turned on his own mother. Now she would end them both. She would dance on their corpses as Storybrook burned to the ground. Emma Swan and Regina Mills were as good as dead.

In the darkness The Black Fairy cackled with a laugh filled with hate, a laugh that was soon joined by another.

Storybrook (The Charming Farmhouse)

David greeted both of them at the door and attempted a smile that was more of a grimace. Emma couldn't help but look at the sleeve of his shirt that was now pinned up to his shoulder. A lump formed in her throat. Regina was surprised at just how much she felt sad for Charming. For so long he had been her arch enemy, she had tried to kill him so many times. But now when she looked at him she felt that she would do anything to make her lover's father whole again.

Emma stepped forward and hugged him. David wrapped his only arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head. "Hey dad." She said into his chest trying to keep her voice strong.

"Hey Emma." Charming attempted a smile again. He looked up at Regina and saw the sympathy in her eyes. He smiled at his former nemesis and said "Hello Regina." With watery eyes Regina smiled "Hello David". Emma sniffed and pulled out of the embrace. "Where's mom?" David indicated with his head "Upstairs with your brother, come on." he waved them in and let them follow him up the stairs.

Snow was sitting on the bed with Neil in her arms, cradling him as he napped. She looked up and motioned the three of them in. "Hi mom." Emma greeted her. "Hi Emma! Hi Regina!" Snow whisper shouted with genuine happiness in her voice. "Hello Snow." Regina said with a smile. Emma sat down next to her mother. "How are you guys doing?" Emma asked. "We're fine honey."

Regina looked at the two of them and how badly they were injured. She knew that they were anything but fine. "We just wanted to, well we came by to" Emma was stammering. She looked to Regina for help. Regina just looked back at her with a look of support. "I'm just trying to say, that is, we came to tell you guys" Emma struggled to find the words.

The smile fell from Snow White's face. "You're here to say goodbye." She whispered. "David, they're saying goodbye." He looked at his wife and then at his daughter and her lover with sadness in his eyes. "You don't think you'll win."

"What?" Emma tried to sound surprised "No, why would you say that? We came to see Neil!" Regina put her hand on Emma's shoulder and spoke to her softly. "Emma." The Savior looked at her parents and sighed. "Look guys, this fight is going to be tough. I mean really tough. And there's a good chance that we won't" Snow wouldn't let her finish "Don't. Please don't say it." Emma held her mother's hand. "I have to say it mom. There's a good chance that Regina and I won't win. And if that happens then" David put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Then we won't make it."

Snow dropped her head to her chest and began to cry. "But that's not going to happen." David said trying to sound strong. "If anyone has a chance of beating this and surviving it's the two of you."

"Dad." Emma started. **Don't stop him Emma. I think we could use a Charming hope speech now.** _Wow, never thought I'd hear you say that._ **Never thought I'd say it either.** "Listen to me Emma." David continued. "Remember when the two of you stopped Storybrook from being destroyed by that trigger? Regina couldn't do it alone, but the two of you together stopped it. You two are stronger together than you are apart. You've always been that way. And now that you're together in every sense of the word there is absolutely nothing you can't do." Snow looked up at her husband and then nodded with tears in her eyes at Emma. "We believe in you." She looked at Regina. "Both of you." Regina smiled. "You're going to win. And the two of you are going to come back to us. And then you both will live together happily ever after." Snow's voice broke down completely at the end as the tears ran freely on her face.

"Thanks mom." Emma kissed Snow on the cheek as her eyes began to water. They sat there for a while as if they didn't want to leave the moment. Finally Emma got up from the bed and kissed her sleeping brother on his forehead. She bent down and hugged her mother tightly. Then she went and gave her father a big hug, he squeezed doubly hard and nearly blew the wind from her lungs. Snow looked up at Regina then extended her free arm. Regina raised an eyebrow but leaned down and allowed Snow White to hug her. Then slowly Regina returned the hug and found her eyes starting to sting with tears. "You two will have your happy endings together Regina. I know it." Snow whispered in her ear. Regina's eyes went wide as she slowly broke the hug. "Thank you Snow." Was all she could get out with a shaky voice.

David stepped forward and faced Regina. They looked at each other for a long time. Finally he pulled her into a hug that surprised her even more than Snow's. "Bring our daughter back to us Regina." Regina returned the hug. "I will." she promised. He broke the hug and looked at her with a smile. "And you come back to us too."

"We better go." Emma said quietly and they left the room. David didn't see them out, choosing to stay instead with his wife. He sat next to her and held her tight as they cried quietly together.

Outside Regina and Emma climbed into her Mercedes. "Well that was tough." Emma said wiping her eyes. "Not as tough as the next conversation will be." _Henry._ Regina nodded.

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

"Just let me have this Henry." Regina pleaded. "I'll never get this chance again!" Henry shook his head. "I'm not letting you feed me mom!" Regina sat there at the dinner table with a forkful of her famous lasagna hovering near her nearly adult son's mouth. "But it's just like when you were my little baby boy!" Regina was pouting and Emma was doing her best to hold in her laughter at the comical sight. Regina sitting there trying to feed Henry and him doing his level best to dodge the fork while winding up with lasagna all over his face.

"Yes mom! The operative words here being 'little baby'! I can do this myself!" While Henry was talking Regina was trying to jab in another bite and missing. "Mom!" "Let me feed you!" Emma couldn't hold it in anymore, she burst out laughing. "This is priceless!" She said between breaths "Why am I not recording this?!" She went for her phone in her pocket. Henry turned his head toward where he heard Emma's voice, earning another smear of lasagna on his face as Regina again tried in vain to feed him. "Don't you dare record this!"

Emma just chuckled "Come on kid! This is cute!"

"Emma! You getting him upset is not making this easier! Henry hold still!" Regina was getting flustered. "No!" Henry kept moving his head. "Be a good widdle baby for mommy wommy!" Emma said in baby talk. "Ma!" Henry yelled, and right when he opened his mouth the widest Regina successfully got a forkful in. "Yes!" Regina shouted. Emma was nearly in tears from laughing so much. Henry started chewing and his face began to relax. "Actually that's pretty good mom. Let me have another." Emma guffawed as Regina put her hand to her heart and looked emotional "Of course Henry."

She sat there watching her lover feed their 17 year old son and smiled. She wanted to remember this moment for the rest of her life. She wanted to be 80 and sitting on the porch with Regina telling their great grandkids how Regina had to feed their grandfather when he was an adult. **That would be lovely.** Regina smiled at her as she shared the thought. _It will be lovely Regina. We're going to get a chance to tell that story, together._

"Are you guys talking in your heads again? Can you not do that when I'm around? It's kinda rude." Henry complained. Regina blushed. "Sorry kid. It just comes naturally to us now. We forget sometimes that other people can't hear us talk." Emma apologized. "I'm just kidding with you!" Henry laughed "I still think it's very cool. And kinda cute."

"Cute?" Regina smirked as she fed him another bite. "Yeah" he answered with a mouthful of lasagna "People are always saying how old married couples can communicate without talking, well you guys already have that. Like I said cute."

"I guess it is kinda cute kid." Emma chuckled. **I'm a queen. I don't do cute.** _Oh yes you do! You're cute right now! You little cutie in your pencil skirt sitting there on your cute little tushy!_ **Emma!**

But Regina was grinning.

Emma's face slowly turned serious. "Henry, we wanted to tell you something tonight."

Everyone felt the mood change in the fancy dining room. "What is it?" He asked softly.

Regina put her hands on one of his. "Henry, you have always been and always will be the best part of me. I never knew how much love a parent could feel for a child until the first time I held you in my arms."

"And when you came to my door and turned my world upside down, well that was the best day of my life. You gave me a family that day, the greatest birthday present I ever got." Emma said.

Henry was puzzled. "What are you guys doing? Why are you both being so serious all of a sudden?" **I can't do this Emma. It's too hard.** _We have to Regina. Just in case._ **I can't say goodbye to my son Emma! He's my little prince.** Emma felt Regina's heart breaking. _I know. God, I know Regina. But we have to let him know how much we love him._

"Are you guys saying goodbye to me?" Henry asked. It was the last straw and Regina broke down in tears. "Mom it's ok!" Henry tried to console his mother. Emma got up from her chair and knelt down beside Regina and began rubbing circles on her back. "Don't cry mom."

"We both love you so much Henry." Regina said between sobs "And if something were to happen to us…" Regina couldn't continue so Emma spoke for her "We want you to know that you'll be ok. David and Mary Margaret will be there for you. You'll be fine." Emma was tearing up.

"I know that. But you don't have to worry guys. You're going to be fine." Henry said with a smile. "Kid" Emma was trying to impart the serious nature of the conversation to him. "This fight, we might not survive it. Even if we do win. There's a chance we could die."

"But you won't." Henry said calmly.

"Kid, nobody knows that." Emma was trying to reason with him. "I do ma. I can feel it. I just know. You guys are going to win and you're going to survive."

"Henry, we're being serious here." Regina had regained some of her composure. "So am I mom. Remember, heart of the truest believer here. And I believe it with all my heart. You two are going to make it. Trust me." They looked at each other with their mouths agape. _He, sounds pretty confident._ **He has the Charming gene. Positivity until the very end.** _Hm, that gene must skip a generation because I ain't got it._

"Are we ok guys? Can we get back to dinner then?" Henry asked them with a smile. "Sure kid. I'm starving!" Emma got up and sat down at her chair. "When aren't you starving?" Regina said with a smirk. "When I'm sleeping." Emma said through a mouthful of food. _I need to eat to get my energy up Regina. Because I don't plan on doing much sleeping tonight!_ **Emma! Our son is right here!** _Oh he can't hear us! But he might hear you tonight!_ **Oh really?** _That's right. I plan on having you screaming my name all night long._ **Then I better cast a soundproofing spell on the bedroom tonight.** Regina gave Emma a sultry grin that the sheriff returned with a suggestive wink.

"You guys are doing it again."

"Sorry kid."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: This is it folks! The final battle begins now!**

Chapter 29

 _ **Hemingway**_

Emma was still awake and lying naked between silk sheets and what was no doubt the most comfortable mattress she had ever slept on. Her majesty really knew how to live, Emma wondered if the bed was magical. Outside the night seems quiet from behind the curtained window in the bedroom. She knows that with all the crap going on, Storybrooke is probably not enjoying a silent night right now. But at this moment she doesn't care, she is exactly where she wants to be. Holding the woman that she loves more than life itself, as she sleeps in her arms.

She looked down to where Regina's sleeping head lay on her chest. Emma listened to the even, quiet breaths she takes as she sleeps. She watches the slight rise and fall of her lover's body and feels the rhythmic sensation of Regina's bare breasts touching her and pulling away, over and over. Admiring the thick, black hair that is slightly mussed on Regina's head. She smiles at the fact that she is the only one who is allowed to see the queen's hair in such a state. The perfectly coiffed mayor would never let anyone see her hair in less than perfect form. Anyone, that is except Emma.

The thought of that feels so intimate to Emma, so personal. She thinks about the little things like that they now share with each other. The things that are only between the two of them, little secrets that no one else in the world is allowed to know except them. Like the deep and soft giggle that sometimes slips out of her majesty when Emma surprises her with something funny. The dreamy, sultry look of her eyes that is only given to Emma when they are alone. The way her lips part slightly and her tongue slides out a little to wet them before they kiss. The way those soft lips taste faintly of apples when Emma licks them. The scar on her top lip, that Emma thinks is so adorable, knowing that she is the only person in the world who is allowed to kiss it.

Emma runs her fingertips lightly and slowly up and down the warm soft skin of Regina's tan arm. She likes the way their different skin tones appear next to each other. The light tan of Regina's smooth skin and the pale white (Emma would call it pasty) skin of her own hand. For the millionth time she wondered how she could be so lucky to have this beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman love her. The Savior knew that she would spend the rest of her life with Regina. She was going to marry her. After all this crap was over she would ask Regina to marry her and spend the rest of her life loving her.

Shit! Emma thought. She couldn't remember when exactly Regina's birthday was! She remembered that Henry had told her years ago. It was some time in the spring, April maybe? May? What kind of music did Regina like? Did she even like any music from this world? Did she have a favorite book? What was her most embarrassing moment? Damn. All those little things you got to know about a person when you were dating that Emma had no clue about. They had been through so much together and had known each other on so many other emotional levels. Little things like favorite songs, corniest joke they knew, foods that they hate. So many unimportant details about someone's life that you're supposed to know about each other that they both had no clue about. Well that was going to change damnit! Emma was going to spend every moment of their lives together finding those answers out.

 **Aren't you tired?** "I thought you were asleep?" Emma whispered, slightly startled from Regina's question. **I was.** "But you are thinking very loudly and it woke me up." Regina's voice was soft and sleepy. _Sorry, babe. Go back to sleep. I'll keep it down._ **The Old Man And The Sea.** "What?' Emma was puzzled. Regina looked up with half closed eyes and smiled at Emma. **The book by Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man And The Sea. That's my favorite book.** _Oh._ Emma smiled down at her. _Why that one?_ Regina closed her eyes and snuggled her head into her lover's chest. **It reminded me of my life.** Emma waited for her to continue. **The old fisherman catches this prize fish, the biggest one he's ever seen. But as he takes it back home it gets picked apart by all these other fish until all he is left with is a skeleton.** Emma rubbed her shoulder softly. **During the curse years here, I would read that book over and over again.** _Why?_ **It was a mirror to my life. My revenge that I craved for so long I had finally achieved. But day after day, month after month, long year after long year it slowly began to be eaten away. Until all I had left was just a bare skeleton of my revenge. Just nothing to show for it all. Only the knowledge that I had finally got the revenge I had sought for so long, and an empty hole in my life. Just like the fisherman I got what I wanted, but after a while it felt empty. Dead.**

Emma lifted Regina's head slowly and looked into those dark brown eyes that she loved. She kissed her softly for a long time, feeling her lips on Regina's soft welcoming mouth. Finally she moved their lips apart. Regina opened her eyes slowly. _That's not your life anymore Regina._ Regina smiled. **I know, my love. My life is no longer a deep black hole with nothing to fill it. It's filled with love now. Thanks to Henry.** Now it was Regina's turn to kiss Emma. **And you. You have filled my life with so much love I feel like I'm bursting. You've done that to me, my dear sweet Emma Swan.**

They lay there together in silence for a long time. Each one basking in the love they felt from the other. Content. Happy. Fulfilled.

Then they heard a deafening thunderclap that sounded like a bomb going off. They shot up out of bed and looked out the window. They could see the night sky had turned blood red.

"She's here." Emma said softly.

"It's time." Regina said grimly.

They intertwined their fingers and squeezed.

Storybrook (outside the clock tower)

Mulan was pretty sure at least one of her ribs was broken as she began to crawl off the dented hood of the parked car. As she put her feet on the ground and straightened up, the sharp pain in her side convinced her that she had a broken rib or two. Ignoring the pain and readjusting her armor she began to move forward on the battlefield that used to be the main street of Storybrook. Looking around she could see five of the dwarves lying on the cracked and broken streets in front of her. She couldn't see the other two. She did see Princess Elsa trying to revive her sister Anna who was hopefully only unconscious. Just then she heard a sickening crunch as a street sign flew threw the air and smacked Dorothy Gale in the face sending her crumpling to the ground. Her wife Ruby rushed to her side. Mulan said a silent prayer of thanks that Aurora was back at her castle and not here. An arrow shot from Granny's crossbow whizzed through the air only to be caught in the air by the hand of their attacker.

Fiona laughed as she snapped the bolt in two and then trapped Granny by wrapping her in poles pulled from parking meters. Mulan lifted her sword to the ready position and limped forward towards her foe.

The Black Fairy stood in the center of the ruins of the intersection cackling an almost inhuman cackle, devoid of any humor. Her eyes were black as coal and her hair seemed to burn in black fire. She was clad in an impossibly long black gown that spread out around her like a dark sun. Flames licked at the buildings and ruined cars all around. Fiona seemed to notice Mulan for the first time.

"Still standing little girl soldier? Or are you a little boy soldier? I get confused." Fiona grinned.

Mulan said nothing as she lunged at Fiona with her sword. Fiona caught the sword in her bare hand and broke the blade. Mulan's eyes grew wide as she saw her blade broken before her. Clearing the shock from her mind quickly she let go of the handle and pulled her dagger and slashed upwards at Fiona's outstretched arm. The slice cut deep and seemed to surprise The Black Fairy. Mulan gave Fiona a determined grin as she saw the fairy grab her forearm in pain.

"Damned girl!" Fiona growled as she raised her hand to strike at Mulan. Mulan braced for the blow as a blast of ice struck Fiona in the side.

"You hurt Anna!" Elsa screamed as she continued the onslaught of ice that began to cover Fiona. Mulan could see her own breath and began to feel the cold seeping through her armor. Mulan could barely make out the form of the black fairy under the ice. She backed away before the snow began to cover her too. Mulan saw Elsa moving forward as she continued to blast away with her ice. Elsa had murder in her eyes and a look on her face that Mulan did not think the soft spoken woman was capable of.

Mulan knew that anger was driving Elsa forward and that anger on the battlefield clouded one's judgement and created mistakes. "Elsa!" Mulan tried to yell to her. "Stay back! Don't come any closer! Elsa!" She either didn't hear or heard and chose to ignore her, but Elsa was now within arm's length of where Fiona had stood.

As the thought entered Mulan's mind a black clad arm shot out from the ice and grabbed Elsa by the throat. Elsa stopped her barrage and grabbed at the hand that was now raising her body off the ground. Elsa's pale face was already beet red as she struggled for air. A quick flash of flame and Mulan was blinded for a moment. When her vision cleared she saw Fiona holding Elsa by the throat and all the ice gone.

"What lovely hair you have my dear." Fiona was saying to Elsa as she held her up effortlessly with one hand while she twirled long white hair with her other. Mulan moved quickly as she tried to close the distance between her and Fiona.

She watched in horror as flames began to burn the ends of Elsa's hair and travel up toward her scalp, burning white hair as it went. Mulan finally reached them and was about to plunge her dagger into Fiona's back when she was lifted off the ground by invisible hands and suspended above the street.

"Not this time girl." Fiona looked up at her with an evil smile. "Now what shall I do?" She looked between Elsa and Mulan. "Shall I burn your friend alive and make you watch her die, or shall I rip you limb from limb before her very eyes?"

Mulan felt her arms and legs begin to pull when she saw the ground shake and knock Fiona to her knees and release Elsa. Mulan fell to the street and hit her head. But as her vision began to dim and she slipped into unconsciousness she could make out the forms of Emma Swan and Regina Mills walking towards them down the street.

"Leave our friends alone! This is between us Fiona!" Mulan heard Emma say as the blackness overtook her.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Close to the end now! I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am enjoying writing it! Emma and Regina are a great duo to write. Swanqueen forever!**

Chapter 30

 _ **Showdown**_

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Henry Mills sat frustrated in his room. He felt useless. His mothers were fighting for everyone's lives and the very existence of Storybrook itself. They were risking their lives. He knew that they could very well die. He also knew that they would sacrifice their lives for him and everyone else. They were heroes, and that's what heroes do.

Heroes fight and Henry didn't feel like a hero right now. He was blind and his hands refused to work. There had to be something he could do, someway he could help them. He had the heart of the truest believer, that had to count for something. He wanted his eyes to work. He wanted his hands to work.

His head began to hurt. What was happening to him? He could feel something at work inside him, something he had never felt before. Magic? It can't be. He doesn't possess magic, he knew that. But _something_ was happening. He wanted to see. He believed. He believed.

Fingers that had not moved in days began to wiggle. He started to see shadows in front of him. Shadows that began to take shape. His lamp. His floor. His closet door. He flexed his fingers into fists. He stood up slowly. The bedroom that he had grown up in was visible all around him. He set his jaw and opened his bedroom door. He would help them now. He would help his mothers.

Storybrook (outside the clocktower)

"Well, well, well. The Savior and The Evil Queen have arrived. Finally." Fiona paced like a lioness eyeing her prey as she sneered at the two. "I was worried that you both would miss this." She waved her arms around her.

"And what is _this,_ exactly?" Emma said as they slowly walked towards The Black Fairy. "Why, the end of everything darling." Fiona grinned. "You've read the Blue Fairy's book. You know how this ends. With the destruction of all the realms."

"Yes, we've read the book." Regina spat back, keeping pace with Emma. "And as you know the prophecy doesn't say how this will end. But I have a secret little fairy, you're going to lose. But you should be used to that by now."

 _Jeez, Regina! We don't need to get her mad!_ **Oh fuck her! This bitch has hurt our son, killed our friends, and burned my town! I'm going to rip her fucking heart out and feed it to her!** _Wow, I haven't heard you use this much profanity outside of the bedroom before! It's kinda hot._ **Really Emma? You get hot at the most inopportune times!** _I can't help it! Everything you do gets me wet!_ **Oh my God Emma! Concentrate!**

Fiona was scowling at them. "I hate you. The both of you. You two have ruined everything! Everything!" She was screaming at them now. "All my plans! Everything I wanted is gone! Gone because of you two bitches!" Emma and Regina stopped together at a distance of about 10 yards from Fiona.

"Now I'm going to kill you." Fiona lowered her voice. "I'm going to kill you one at a time and make the other watch. I'm going to torture you both. I'm going to make you curse the other as you die. I'm going to send you both to your graves hating your 'true love' because it has caused you all this pain. Your spirit will be crushed and you will die in a pit of darkness and despair. You will beg me for mercy, you will beg me to end your suffering. You will offer up the life of your son in exchange for your own. You will die cowards and traitors to each other and the last words you spit out will be words of hate and disgust for your lover."

"Bitch, just bring it." Emma said.

 **Eloquent as always.** _You love it._ Regina shot a quick smirk in Emma's direction. For a brief moment in time they all stood stone still. The tension was palpable.

Then everything exploded into action. Emma drew her gun and fired off a round at Fiona. Fiona moved at superhuman speed away from the bullet but ran right into a fireball that Regina had fired in anticipation of the fairy's move. The fireball scorched Fiona's gown causing her to cry out in pain and waste a spell to extinguish the flame. In that time Emma aimed for Fiona's heart and fired, but at the same time The Black Fairy had launched a bolt of lightning at Regina causing the mayor to deflect it with a hastily cast shield. The split second it took for Emma to glance at Regina caused her shot to miss the heart and shatter Fiona's collarbone instead.

The ground beneath Emma's feet gave way as Fiona shrieked from her wound. Emma felt herself suspended in midair for a second before she fell through the chasm. She shot her arms out to grab anything and her hands found purchase on a small ledge. In the process she let go of her gun. She looked down to see it fall away into the dark below. "Shit." **Emma! Are you ok?!** _Yeah, I'm good. I'm about 10 feet down but I'm climbing up. You'll have to keep her busy for a second._

Regina was burning away shards of glass as they flew at her like bullets. **Not a problem at the moment. I've got her preoccupied.** Fiona increased the speed that the shards were flying and Regina pressed her lips together in a thin line as she continued to defend herself. _I can feel you concentrating pretty hard. I'm almost there. Just a few more feet._ **Take your time sheriff!**

She pulled herself up to her elbows onto the street. Emma saw Regina's defenses were beginning to break down. Anger and adrenaline fueled her muscles to scramble up and charge toward The Black Fairy. Emma launched herself into Fiona's back knocking both of them to the ground. Emma was able to connect with a punch to Fiona's jaw. "Like that bitch? How about another one?" Emma said as she pulled her fist back but was thrown back by a blast of magic launching her across the street.

Vines from a nearby bush wrapped themselves around Fiona's neck. "Choke on it!" Regina yelled as the vines tightened. A bolt of lightning struck in front of her and knocked Regina onto her back. The vines relaxed and Fiona disappeared in a plume of black smoke.

"You okay Regina?" Emma said as she extended her arm to pull her up. "I'm fine." Regina got to her feet and dusted herself off. "But I think this suit is going to be going in the trash."

Emma cocked her head and grinned. "Nobody told you to wear nice clothes Regina!"

"I'm a queen Emma." she sniffed. "I'm not coming to a fight wearing skinny jeans and a tank top." Emma pouted. "It looks good on you though my sweet." Regina winked.

They both looked around. "Where did she go?" Emma said. A roar rolled down from the sky above.

"What was that?" Emma asked. "Nothing good." Regina said. Coming out of the dark red sky was a black shadow that grew larger and larger.

"Shit." Regina said. "Is that a dragon?" Emma asked. The large winged monster belched flame towards the duo that was absorbed by the shield Regina cast. "Yep." Emma said as she shielded her eyes from the flames. "That's a dragon."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Return to witch mountain

Regina and Emma huddled behind a wrecked pickup truck. The dragon soared high above them preparing to make another dive on the two. "This truck isn't going to provide much cover when that comes back down." Emma told Regina and also herself. "I'm open to ideas sheriff!" Regina said sharply.

Emma glanced behind her. A storefront, but the entrance had a security gate. 'Who the hell needs a security gate in Storybrook?' Emma thought. Across the street there was a narrow alley between two buildings. "The alley." Emma said to the mayor. "If we make it there we might have a chance. It's too narrow for the dragon to get in." Regina grinned at the mayor, "Good idea sheriff. I knew I kept you around for a reason." Emma winked in reply.

The dragon was making his turn in the sky and began its descent. "Now!" Emma yelled and grabbed Regina's arm and ran to the alley. Behind them a column of flame burned the street narrowly missing them. They dove into the alley, Emma landed on the ground hard and Regina rolled into a trash can knocking it over and covering her in garbage. "Damn it!" Emma spared a smile at the queen's predicament. "If we survive I'll buy you new clothes." Regina smirked, "New skinny jeans and a flannel shirt? No thank you. You're the 'butch' in this relationship." It was Emma's turn to smirk now. "Nice."

They stood and watched as the dragon circled overhead. "We can't stay here forever. What now?" Regina asked. "I don't know, I'm making this up as we go!" Emma shrugged "Can you kill a dragon?" Regina looked from Emma to the sky. "Maybe if it stood still for me. But I doubt it will do that for us."

Emma glanced at Regina and then sprinted into the street. "Emma!" Regina screamed. "What the hell are you doing?!" Emma stopped and stood in the middle of the street. "Getting it to stand still." she said quietly. **You idiot! What do you think you're doing?!** _When it lands, you kill it._ **Damn it Emma! That thing will kill you! Get over here!** _You said you could kill it if it stood still, well I'm going to get it to stand still!_ **Don't be foolish!** _Too late!_

The dragon pulled up from it's dive and hung in the air before belching fire down on Emma. The blonde held her hands up in front of her. "Emma!" Regina screamed in terror. _I'm all right, for now._ Regina could barely make out Emma's silhouette in the midst of the fire. Emma had thrown up a magic shield to protect herself. **You won't be able to keep that up forever!** _Then you better kill it quick!_ Regina moved out of the alley and black electricity lanced through the air from her fingers hitting the dragon on it's left wing setting it ablaze. It roared in pain and stopped breathing fire. It landed awkwardly on the ground in front of the two. Regina ran to Emma. "Are you ok?" Regina said with concern in her voice. Emma exhaled loudly. "I'm good." She glanced at the dragon who was still crying out in pain. "I thought you said you could kill the damn thing." Regina smirked. "I'm a little out of practice at my dragon slaying! Also the idiot that I love was trying to get herself killed at the time, so I was having a little trouble concentrating!" Emma blew a kiss. "So now what?" Emma looked at her. Regina grabbed her hand and squeezed. They held hands as the dragon gathered itself and prepared to attack.

Their attention was drawn to a screech from the sky. They looked up and saw two dragons bearing down on the wounded one. The larger of the two raked the wounded one across the back with it's claw. The smaller one hovered and fired a stream of flame down on their attacker.

"Malificent!" Regina smiled. "Lily!" Emma yelled in appreciation. The three dragons began to battle two against one. Regina grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her away. "Come on!" Emma allowed herself to be dragged from the battle. They sprinted down the street where they came face to face with a healed Fiona dressed in a new black gown.

They stopped short. Fiona flicked her wrist and Regina disappeared in a plume of black smoke. "Regina!" Emma looked at the empty space that once held her lover. She turned her head and looked at the furious face of The Black Fairy. A sword of crackling black energy appeared in Fiona's hand. Emma's face set into a grimace. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When her eyes opened she held a sword of white that sparked. They raised their weapons and swung.

Storybrook (Regina's mansion)

Regina appeared in front of her home. "I hate that bitch." She raised her hand and was about to flick her wrist when she caught sight of Emma's yellow Volkswagen Bug in her driveway. She grinned.

Storybrook (the clock tower)

Henry had followed the noise of the battle and the light of the flames to the clock tower. He stood in awe as he watched the dragons fight. If his parents weren't fighting for their lives he would have thought the scene was epic and stayed to watch.

But they _were_ in trouble, and he was going to help them. He headed towards the sound of fighting and Emma's voice. Or rather, her grunts. He found his birth mother in a pitched battle with The Black Fairy.

Emma was fighting hard and Henry could see her using the training his grandfather had given her. He couldn't see his adoptive mother anywhere and it worried him. He noticed that Fiona was holding her own against his birth mother. He hadn't imagined that she would be much of swordfighter. Yet there she was, holding the sword like it was an extension of her arm.

Something wasn't right though. He looked at The Black Fairy as she fought his mother. There was something about her shadow, something that was unnatural. He closed his eyes tightly and then when he opened them again he saw something horrible.

Just behind The Black Fairy was a hideous goat faced monster with horns who was mimicking her moves. No, he was guiding her like a puppeteer. "The demon." He whispered in horror.

Emma parried another swing and countered with her own. Fiona blocked that one as well. 'This bitch is pretty good.' Emma thought. Her arms were getting tired and she didn't know how much longer she could do this. Fiona didn't seem to be having any trouble though. Emma couldn't see so much as one bead of sweat from the fairy. _I'm sorry Regina. I wish I could have told you I loved you one more time._ Emma was driven to one knee as she blocked a particularly strong blow. She looked up as The Black Fairy raised her sword high above her head to deliver the killing strike.

 **Get out of the way idiot!** Emma saw the headlights of her VW Bug and the horn beeping like mad as it barreled towards them down the street. She tucked and rolled to the side out of the way as the car slammed into the back of The Black Fairy carrying them both into a light pole. The crash was a sickening sound of metal twisting and bones snapping. Fiona was crushed in between the car and the pole, her body nearly cut in two. Emma got to her feet and looked at the wreckage.

"Regina!" she screamed and ran to the car. She looked behind the wheel but saw only an empty seat. "I told you that thing was a death trap." Emma spun around and saw a smiling Regina standing there. She broke into a huge smile and grabbed the mayor by the waist and kissed her hard on the lips. _I thought you were dead!_ **Now Miss Swan, when has thinking ever been your strong suit?** But the brunette was returning the kiss with just as much passion and relief as the blonde was giving.

"Moms!" Henry came out from his cover and ran to his parents. "Kid?" Emma was shocked but Regina was angry. "Henry Mills! What are you doing here?" Then they noticed his eyes and hands. Their faces changed from anger and shock to happiness. "Kid! You're alright!" They hugged him together. "Henry, you can see us?" Regina asked into his shoulder as she embraced him tightly.

"Yeah! I'm fine." He said as they both rained kisses on his cheeks. "Cut it out! I'm okay!" They let him go but continued to hold each other with their arms around the other's waist. A raspy voice made them all turn toward the car wreck.

The Black Fairy was bent forward with her arms stretched out in front of her clawing at the hood with her fingernails. Blood poured from her mouth but her eyes burned with hatred. "Damn the two of you!" She gurgled, her voice growing weak with each passing moment. "I hate you both to Hell and back." She spat a glob of blood on the hood of the car. "He… promised… me…" she began to whisper. "He.. promised.. me... revenge…" Then her head slowly lowered onto the hood, almost as if she was going to sleep. Then she breathed her last breath and the Black Fairy was dead.

They stared at her body for a moment, then Emma turned to Regina with a pout on her face. "My car Regina! You couldn't use your car?!" Regina released Emma and crossed her arms. "The Mercedes?" She said incredulously "I don't think so Miss Swan! And you're welcome by the way!" Emma continued to pout. Regina's face softened and she embraced her lover. "I'm sorry Emma." "My car." Emma muttered into her shoulder.

"Moms!" Henry shouted. "It's not over! Look!" He pointed over their shoulder. They looked and saw the dead dragon, Malificent and Lily in human form lying in the street. Behind that scene rose a huge horned monster with massive wings and a huge muscled form. He rose like a nightmare from Bald Mountain with angry yellow eyes. Yellow eyes that glared at them.

"It's the demon." Henry announced quietly. **If we survive this, I'll buy you a new car.** _But it won't be the same!_


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: This is a long one guys. I didn't want to break this up though. One more chapter after this and then an announcement!**

Chapter 32

Storybrook (the clock tower)

Henry always thought the Disney movie Fantasia was dumb. He hated the stupid cartoon hippos and butterflies. Even when he was little and his mother had shown him the movie on video tape he thought it was for babies. There was one part of the movie that scared him as a child however. It was the demon that was in the 'Night on Bald Mountain' part of the movie. It gave him nightmares the first time he saw it. His adoptive mother had to let him sleep in her bed that night. Even now as a 17 year old he couldn't listen to Modest Mussorgky's piece without getting a little shiver down his spine.

How he wished for that old VCR version of the demon now, because the one he and his parents were now facing was ten times scarier.

"Henry." Regina stepped in front of him and put her arm in front of him like she did when he would sit in the front seat of her car and stop short. "Get behind us." Emma moved to Regina's side as they both attempted to shield their son.

The demon stood above them, flames from the burning buildings around them hid his massive body below the waist. He towered over the two story shops burning in front of him and his head was at least five stories above the street.

"Suggestions?" Emma gulped and glanced at the mayor with her deep green eyes wide

open. Regina just looked at Emma with fear in her eyes. Real fear. Emma had never seen Regina really scared before, even after everything they had seen together the brunette had never appeared this shaken. It broke Emma's heart. _It's okay Regina. We'll get out of this._ Regina just nodded, but Emma felt the fear that was pulsating inside the queen.

"Surrender." the demon's voice shook the buildings and rattled the windows of the small town. Its low monotone held no emotion, only power and authority. "Surrender and live. Resist and die."

 _Not a big talker huh? Regina?_ **Emma. What are we going to do? I don't know how we're going to win this!** _We got this babe! You and me._ Regina looked over and smiled a nervous smile to Emma. "We resist you!" Emma yelled and shook her fist in the air.

"Then die."

Storybrook (cemetery)

Emma looked at the ground around the crypt, making sure that there were no apples lying in the grass. In the thirty odd years she has been visiting the Mills family crypt the groundskeepers knew to make sure that no apples rot on the ground. Emma had planted the trees in her lover's honor. The two of them had a complicated history with apples. During the years since Regina's death Emma had realized just how much the strength of the trees meant to her true love. It was a fitting memorial for her, symbolizing the strength and endurance of the former mayor.

Emma wished that she had her strength now. She felt lost and alone. Alone for over thirty years, she had never tried to find another lover. Having found her true love and then only to lose her days later had shattered Emma beyond repair. There was no hope for her, no chance at love again. Her Regina had died and Emma felt that part of her had died with her. The years had been filled with solitude as Emma pulled away from her family.

Her despair poisoned every relationship in her life. Henry blamed her for letting his adoptive mother die. He refused to talk to her or see her. Emma had never seen her grandchildren and didn't know if Henry had even told them that she was alive. She might as well be dead.

She had moved out of Storybrook and broke off any contact with her parents. No one knew when Emma would visit Regina's crypt and she made sure never to go on the same day twice. She didn't want to see anyone and she knew no one wanted to see her. The citizens of Storybrook had seen that their savior was anything but. She had let them down when they needed her the most.

Let them down like she had let everyone who ever cared for her down. Just like she had let Regina down. She had told her that they would survive, that they would get through it together. But she had lied to her. Lied to her true love. Regina had died and Emma had lived. How she wished it were different. That they had both lived and shared a long life together. Or even if she had died and Regina had lived. That would have been better than living with this pain for so long.

Emma fell to her knees onto the hard grass. It was too much. Too much grief. Too much pain. She just wanted it to stop.

She wanted to give up. To surrender.

"Don't." a familiar voice said behind her.

The Enchanted Forest (King Leopold's Castle)

Regina sat on the royal bed in her night clothes. The sheer gown did nothing to protect her skin from the cold breeze that was blowing into the king's bedroom. It was the king's bedroom. The king's castle. The king's kingdom. She wasn't the queen, she was the king's wife. She was just property, something the king possessed. She was a prisoner. This was her prison, and her life.

She was trapped. Trapped with no way out. He would be here soon, she thought. The reception had been over for hours now. The king should be sufficiently drunk enough to have his young bride on his wedding night. He would be Regina's first, and as queen probably her last. When he died, she wouldn't be allowed to remarry. The throne would go to Snow White and Regina would become the queen mother and live out her remaining years as a widow.

This was her life now. The life that her mother had designed for her and groomed her for. It was never her life. It always belonged to someone else, never her.

The night sky looked endless outside. She looked longingly at the stars and how far away they were. They were so far removed from the mess that was her life. She wanted to be that far away. She wanted to reach them. To escape.

She stood slowly and walked to the balcony. The wind blew around her gown and the cold pierced her all the way to the bone. The railing stopped her and she placed her shaking hands on the cold stone in front of her. She could escape.

If she just gave up. It would all end. If she just surrendered.

A familiar voice spoke up behind her. "Don't."

Storybrook (the clock tower)

Henry Mills watched as his parents stood in front of him, shielding him from danger. He knew they wouldn't allow anything to hurt him. They stood like statues made of steel. Unmoving. Immobile. Paralyzed.

"Moms?" Henry asked in a whisper. No response. He touched their shoulders. No movement at all. He slid in front of them. Their eyes had been transformed somehow into black orbs. The expressions on their faces showed absolute sadness with black tears pouring from their eyes. "Moms! Wake up! Please!" He tried shaking them but they wouldn't budge.

He spun to face the demon with tears in her eyes. "Leave them alone!" His voice was filled with anger and pain. Henry felt powerless. What was he going to do to this thing? How could he save his mothers?

"They will surrender or die." The demon's voice rumbled. Henry's fists trembled because he was clenching them so tight. Why didn't he just attack them? Why was he just holding them?

Then a thought exploded in his mind. "He can't touch them." he said under his breath. He looked at his mother's faces. "He needs them to give up on their own." The tears in their eyes told him that the demon was winning too. What kind of hell was he putting them through? He had to reach them.

"Mom's! Don't give up!" He shouted. "Don't surrender! Fight!"

Storybrook (cemetery)

It was him, but he was 17 again. Emma struggled to get to her feet. "Henry? Is that really you?" She wanted to go to him and hug him, but this had to be a dream. It couldn't be him. He was in his forties now. "Henry? Is that you kid?" He wasn't moving. Like he wasn't even there.

"Mom's! Don't give up! Don't surrender!" Surrender? That meant something.

The Enchanted Forest (King Leopold's castle)

Regina turned and saw the boy. His clothes were peculiar, strange but somehow familiar. How did he get in without her hearing him enter? His face touched something inside her. She felt a connection to him. Who was this boy?

"Mom's! Don't give up! Don't surrender!" Then she made the connection.

"Henry!"

Storybrook (the clock tower)

"Hurry David!" Snow knew her husband was driving as fast as he could trying to navigate the streets between the burning wreckage that was now downtown Storybrook. Snow's heart broke a little as she saw what had happened to the small town. This was her home for so many years, in many ways it was more her home than the Enchanted Forest. Here she had finally reunited with her daughter and they became a family.

Now the town was in ruins and her family was in danger. She would gladly trade this town for the safety of her family.

The monster was easy to spot as he towered over the buildings. Emma and Regina would be there, she was certain. Snow White looked over at her husband and knew from the way his jaw was set and how hard his remaining hand gripped the steering wheel that he was worried about his daughter. She was worried too, she could feel that her daughter was still alive. But for how long would she stay that way? Emma was a hero, Mary Margaret knew that, and that meant she would sacrifice her life to save everyone else. She was the Savior after all.

That's why they had to get there soon. To protect their daughter from herself.

No one was moving. Neither the demon nor his parents. Aside from the crackling of the flames from the cars and buildings around them everything was silent. Then Henry heard something coming his way. A car? No. A truck. His grandfather's truck. It broke through the wrecks and stopped near them. Snow and David got out and rushed to Henry and his mothers.

"Henry!" Snow wrapped him in her arms and looked him up and down. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine grandma." She looked confused. "You can see?" He nodded. David went over to his daughter. "Henry, what's happened to her?"

"The demon has them in some type of spell. He can't kill them for some reason. Not on his own. He needs them to surrender, to give up. I think he's trapped them in a nightmare and it's making them lose hope." Henry told them.

"We can't let that happen." Snow told them with a determined look on her face.

Storybrook (cemetery)

What was happening here? How could Henry be here, and be so young? None of this made sense to Emma. She tried to think and get her mind right, to makes sense of this. She tried to remember how she got to the crypt. Did she drive herself? Her car wasn't there. Regina had wrecked it that night. That night when she died.

But had she died? Right now Emma couldn't remember the moment of her death. She knew she would never forget holding her lover for the last time. She couldn't remember the funeral either. She couldn't even remember what she had for breakfast this morning. All she knew was that she felt pain, heartbreak and despair.

Hopeless.

But there was something inside her. Something that refused to be ignored. It was a little spark at first. But now it began to grow. Thes she heard a voice that sounded like stone scraping on stone.

"Surrender Savior."

She turned and saw a man with a face she couldn't see for some reason. He was dressed in a black suit but his face was almost a blur to her. She couldn't make his features out even though he stood just feet away from her.

"You can not win." The man said. "You're the demon." Emma said. "None of this is real! This is some kind of illusion." She felt the strength inside her getting stronger. She looked at her old, wrinkled hands and they began to change into the hands of a woman in her early thirties.

"It matters not Savior. Your defeat is unavoidable. You and your reality will not survive. Surrender to me."

If this wasn't real and she was alive then that meant the battle wasn't over. And that meant _Regina!_ She was still alive!

"You're wrong." Emma's face hardened. "We're gonna win." _Regina! Regina! Can you hear me!_

The Enchanted Forest (King Leopold's castle)

How could Henry be here? Regina's head was spinning. This was her wedding night, wasn't it? _Regina!_

There was a voice in her head. Soft at first, but growing louder. _Babe! Can you hear me?!_ **Emma!** She was in some type of dream state, Regina realized. This was the demon's work. **Emma I can hear you my love! Where are you?**

 _I'm here babe! It's a trick! The demon is trying to trick us!_ The castle around Regina began to fade as well as the image of Henry. **I'm coming to you Emma!** _How?_ **Don't worry my love, I have a little more training in dealing with things like this than you do.**

Storybrook (cemetery)

Regina began to appear next to Emma who breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her lover. "Emma!" Regina embraced her tightly and Emma returned the hug.

"This matters not." the man spoke "Your power is insignificant compared to mine. There is no way you can win. Surrender."

"You know you keep saying that!" Emma said defiantly "But here we are! Still alive!"

Emma grabbed Regina's hand and squeezed tight. "You can't kill us, or else we'd already be dead!"

"He needs us to surrender on our own Emma." Regina said to her true love. "Then he's already lost." Emma grinned. She turned to the demon. "Face it buster, we're gonna beat you!"

Suddenly everything went black.

Storybrook (the clock tower)

Henry thought he saw a twitch on Emma's face. Then he noticed that the blackness that was covering her eyes began to fade. Her green eyes started to appear. "They're coming out of it!" Henry exclaimed to Snow and David. He saw his adoptive mother's shoulders begin to relax as her eyes turned to her natural brown eyes as well. "Mom!"

The first thing that Regina felt was her son squeezing her in a bear hug. "Henry!" She kissed him on the forehead and then quickly looked to her side and saw Emma being manhandled in a similar way by her parents. Their eyes met and they went to each other and kissed with passion. Henry smiled while David and Snow looked at each other and blushed.

"Babe!" Emma breathed as the two broke apart and looked in each other eyes. Regina's hands held Emma's face. "My dear sweet Emma."

"Mom's! The demon can't hurt you!" Henry was saying. "Yeah we figured that out kid. He can only win if we give up and that's not going to happen." Snow spoke up. "Then how do we beat it?"

Regina looked at Emma and smiled. "Together." Emma nodded. "We're stronger together than we are apart." She said. They held hands. "You guys should probably step back." Emma said to the others. The three of them gave looks of encouragement to the pair and ran off into an alleyway.

"Ready to do this babe?" Emma looked into Regina's eyes. "Ready when you are my love." Emma gave her a quick smile as they both stepped into the middle of the street to face the demon.

They nodded to each other and felt the magic build between them. It began in their joined hands and spread through their bodies. Soon they both glowed as bright as the sun at noon causing their family in the alley to look away. The beams of light shot upwards and shattered the red sky like a mirror.

"Stop this now!" For the first time there was emotion in the demon's voice. It was afraid. "You have no idea what you are doing!" The light shone and the demon and it began to burn.

"It's working!" Emma shouted to Regina straining to be heard over the cacophony. The demon's skin began to turn to stone. Cracks began to form and grew larger until they spread over the entire body of the demon. Black light poured out of the cracks. The black light mingled with white light coming from the women. Black rays traveled toward the two and began to enter Regina.

"Emma!" Regina shouted and her voice was filled with fear. "I can feel the darkness coming into me!"

"Fight it Regina!" Emma gripped her lover's hand tighter. "I can't! It's too strong!" Regina sounded weaker. _Regina! Babe you can do this! Fight!_ **Emma, it's too powerful. All the darkness it's overtaking me. I can feel it changing me.** Emma could feel Regina being pulled away from her. Even though her hand was tightly grasped in Emma's, Regina's essence was pulling away from her. Then Emma remembered the book.

 _Regina! Give it to me!_ **What?!** _All the darkness! All the dark magic! Give it to me!_ **I can't Emma! It will kill you!** _No it won't! Remember the prophecy! We have to unite the magic! Light and dark!_ **I can't Emma! I won't let you die!** _Regina. Please trust me._

Regina was fading, she knew it. She looked over to Emma and saw the pleading eyes of her lover. _Don't do this Regina. Don't leave me._ Tears rolled down their cheeks. Regina nodded.

Emma felt the darkness slam into her like a runaway train. Every part of her body filled with anger and hate. The darkness was too much. It was going to swallow her.

 **Emma.** There was nothing she could do. This was a mistake.

 **Emma.** This was how it was all going to end.

 **Emma. I love you.** Then she felt it. The spark inside her. It grew and grew until she began to feel herself coming back from the abyss. Slowly she was being pulled back and she could feel that it was Regina that was doing the pulling. **You can do it Emma. Come back to me. Come back to our son.**

The blackness was pulled completely out of the demon and it crumbled into a pile of ashes. It swirled around both women in streaks of darkness joined by streaks of light. The beams flew faster and faster until in a flash the streaks disappeared and both women stood in the middle of the street covered in a glowing aura.

Henry, Snow and David ran out of the alley toward them. "Moms?" Henry saw that they looked to be in a kind of trance. Snow reached for Regina's arm and David put his hand on Emma's shoulder. Simultaneously both of Henry's grandparents screamed and doubled over. That broke the two women out of their trance. "Dad!" Emma went down on her knees to check on her father.

"Snow?" Regina turned over her stepdaughter and looked at Snow White's face. The scar tissue that covered half her face was healing. "Emma look!" Emma kept her eyes glued to David. "Only if you look at this!" Regina turned to see what she was talking about. The sleeve of David's shirt that he had pinned up to his shoulder was filling up from his chest outward. Regina saw as little fingers started poking out of the cuff of the shirt.

"Whoa!" Henry's eyes were open wide and he couldn't decide who to look at while his grandparents healed. David and Snow sat up and looked at one another, shock and joy spread across their faces and they fell into each other's arms.

Emma and Regina stood up and intertwined their fingers. Their eyes met and they smiled.

Henry looked around and turned to his parents. "Who's going to clean all this up?"


	33. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

A week had passed since the demon had been destroyed and Emma and Regina had spent more than half their time where they were now. In bed, wrapped in each other's arms. Their bodies glistened with a sheen of sweat from their recent lovemaking. Emma lay on her back while Regina rested her head between her breasts.

"People are going to think we left town or something." Emma said dreamily with her eyes closed. "They hardly see us anymore." Regina's finger toyed slowly with one of Emma's nipples, the tip growing hard from her attentions. "Let them." Regina purred. "I'd much rather spend my time here with you than swinging a hammer." Emma felt goosebumps rise on her skin. "As tempting as that sounds, the mayor and the sheriff should really make an appearance during the town's reconstruction." Emma's hand traveled down Regina's back and rested on her ass, cupping it in her palm.

"A queen does not swing a hammer my dear." Regina followed with a lick to the tip of Emma's nipple, sending a low moan from her lips. "I am a bit more refined." Emma's fingers slid between two taught and tan buttocks. "Not in here." Emma grinned. "A queen in the streets, but an animal between the sheets." Regina chuckled as she put the hard nipple in her mouth and sucked. "Shit Regina." Emma breathed. "You're going to be the end of me."

"Never my love." Regina whispered as she began to kiss around the nipple and down her body until she got to Emma's core. The mayor could practically feel the heat emanating from the soft mound. She inhaled deeply and savored the smell of Emma's musk. Her mouth began to water as she prepared herself for Emma's taste. She slid her fingers up and around Emma's lips but teased the opening. Emma raised her hips inviting Regina to go further, but the brunette just grinned and continued to tease.

"Play nice madam mayor." Emma pleaded softly. Regina chuckled in a husky voice. "Oh my dear Miss Swan, I am not playing." She kissed Emma's mound softly and hummed. Emma's hands fisted and bunched the sheets between her fingers. "Fuck Regina." Emma gasped.

"Oh I plan to my love." Regina slid one finger down Emma's wet lips. "As many times as I can."

She slid her finger easily inside of Emma's welcoming opening. Emma's hips bucked and presented herself to Regina's waiting tongue, begging for relief. Regina would have teased her more, but her own core was on fire now. She felt the wetness spreading between her legs and plunged her tongue inside her lover and lapped up the hot liquid between the lips. Emma moaned louder and her breath quickened. The sounds drove Regina wild and she slipped two fingers between hot folds and began her work while her mouth found Emma's clit and sucked it into her mouth.

"Shit!" Emma swore. Regina felt a rush hearing the profanity, it drove her crazy knowing that she could make her lover feel this way. Her fingers plunged faster and deeper inside Emma and the sounds of her action were wet and delicious to her ears. Damn it, Regina thought, neither one of them was going to last long this way. But the former Evil Queen couldn't help it, she wanted to make Emma cum right now and she wanted to cum with her. Regina began to play with her own nub as she swirled her tongue around Emma's. The sheriff was now making incoherent noises as her eyes rolled up. Regina worked her fingers harder and applied more pressure with her tongue on Emma. She felt the walls close around her fingers and knew that Emma was on the brink.

Just then Regina felt magic spark at her fingertips as they slid into her lover. Emma went rigid with pleasure. "Oh yes! Regina!" Emma screamed and the sound made Regina explode as she released Emma's button from her mouth as she gasped. The brunette mayor rubbed herself furiously until the shaking from her legs stopped. She quickly returned to Emma's opening and licked up every last drop, enjoying the taste that she had craved. After she finished her clean up, she climbed up swiftly and pressed her lips on Emma's mouth sliding her tongue along the top of the blonde's letting her share the taste.

They broke apart and their chests heaved up and down from their exertion. After a short while of blissful silence, Emma spoke.

"Damn Regina, I think you just got me pregnant!"

 **THE END FOR NOW**

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Emma and Regina are such fun characters to write. I originally thought that this story would be a one off, but halfway through I realized that I wanted to play with these characters more. So I've decided that I'm going to write a sequel. There are many questions that still need to be answered. Foremost among them what happens next with the other realms? Will Emma and Regina soon be hearing the pitter patter of little feet? Also, how did Mila return from the dead? And speaking of the dead, there might be one character who isn't** _ **so**_ **dead after all! So please come back for the sequel and thank you for reading this story!**


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